Eddie Howe has now made a ‘huge’ claim about the future of Newcastle United star Alexander Isak amid Mikel Arteta seeing him as Arsenal’s top striker transfer target.
The 24-year-old has been in scintillating form this term to make the shortlist for the Premier League Player of the Season award. Isak is rivalling Arsenal duo Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice for the gong, as well, after scoring 20 goals through his 27 appearances for Newcastle.
Isak also has 24 goals in 37 appearances across all competitions after finding the back of a net in Champions League, FA Cup and EFL Cup ties. Now, his record at St James’ Park has the Sweden ace at the top of the striker shortlist Arteta gave Arsenal for his summer targets.
Eddie Howe thinks Newcastle retaining Arsenal target Alexander Isak is ‘hugely important’
Reports by The Independent note that Arteta views Isak as Arsenal’s No1 striker target amid Newcastle’s difficult spot regarding PSR. While the Toon are loath to sell the 44-cap forward, Magpies chiefs could have to consider offers for a player Arteta sees plenty of positives with.
Arteta is even such a fan of Isak that The Sun notes that Arsenal are willing to pay Newcastle £100m to fend off rival interest from Tottenham Hotspur. But Arteta might have to hope that the bid also convinces Newcastle to go against their manager as Howe expects Isak to stay.
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Howe has now stated that it is ‘hugely important’ for Newcastle to reject any approaches for Isak or Bruno Guimaraes. He fears either player leaving Tyneside would knock the Toon back some way after already falling out of the Champions League to the Europa League positions.
“I’m planning for them to be here,” Howe said, via quotes by the Mirror. “All my planning is with them in the squad. We don’t want to sell our best players. That is hugely important for us. It will knock us back some considerable distance because we would have to start again.
“There is no weakness in the club to say we are going to sell anyone. There is no desire from anyone at the football club to sell our best players.”
Mikel Arteta may have to force Arsenal to bid £100m for Alexander Isak’s transfer
While Howe states that Newcastle have ‘no desire’ to sell Isak, their finances could be what helps Arteta seal his transfer to Arsenal. The Gunners offering £100m to sign the Solna-born striker would go a very, very long way to helping the Toon avoid all possible breaches of PSR.
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Arsenal may also have to offer a sky-high fee to ensure Newcastle consider parting with Isak given Howe’s stance. The Magpies’ manager is right to fear the repercussions of the forward leaving St James’ Park. Isak has scored in 15 of 27 Premier League appearances this term.
Just Erling Haaland (25) and Cole Palmer (21) have also outscored him in the Premier League so far this season. Yet Isak accounts for just 26% of Newcastle’s goals compared to Haaland hitting 29% of Manchester City’s and Palmer firing 30% of Chelsea’s with the least penalties.
