Alan Shearer response spoke volumes after Newcastle United announced that Alexander Isak would miss the club’s pre-season tour. The in-demand frontman, who has been strongly linked with Liverpool, has informed the Magpies of his desire to explore a move away from the club.
Alan Shearer revelation came after it was confirmed that Isak had been ruled out of the club’s Asian tour. Eddie Howe’s squad is set to face Arsenal in Singapore before taking on Tottenham in Seoul, South Korea.
A minor thigh issue was cited as the reason for the Swede’s absence. When Newcastle revealed their travelling squad on Instagram, minus Isak, club legend Alan Shearer responded with a shocked face emoji.
Meanwhile, Magpies fans criticized the club’s handling of the situation, with some insisting he should have been made to travel to the other side of the world regardless of an injury. One supporter said: “Even if Isak is injured, you take him on the tour to build the brand. As a club asset to gain fans, you take him to meet and greets and public events, even if he’s not on the bench. No way that he’s been left out for any other reason than to be available for sale and medicals without flying halfway across the planet.”
Another wrote: “This whole Isak situation is being handled terribly by the club, it’s making us as fans look like mugs. The elephant in the room needs to be addressed. Regardless of injury, he should travel with the team (if he even is injured), it’s just causing more speculation about him leaving than it’s worth. Disappointing news.”
A third demanded: “Time Isak spoke to the fans, I think he owes us that.” Another added: “Surely you take him on tour regardless of injury? Unless it’s something where he’s doing rehabilitation or has been told not to fly. Need some answers soon mind!”
While Newcastle is under no pressure to sell Isak, who is valued at over £120 million, they may decide to cash in now that the 25-year-old has expressed a desire to leave the north-east. While Anfield is an obvious destination for the Sweden star, there is believed to be interest elsewhere, including from Saudi side Al-Hilal. Like Newcastle, they are owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Howe addressed the speculation around his star striker as he explained why he wasn’t involved in last weekend’s friendly at Celtic. Isak had travelled to Glasgow with the squad, only to be sent home. “It was my decision,” said Howe. “He travelled back to Glasgow with us, but I decided to send him home due to the speculation around him. I’ve had discussions with him, but that’s not abnormal. I respect a player’s career and how short it is. Alex has been really good, he’s trained really well, and I realize there’ll be noise around him.”
“We have a few players who are irreplaceable. Your top players are so hard to find, so hard to recruit, and so hard to develop. So when you have them, you need to treasure them. Of course, we’re desperate to keep him as part of our team. I think it’s difficult for me to ever give 100 percent clarity on any player; I’d never do that. All I can say is Alex is happy at Newcastle, he loves the players, the staff, the team. I’ve never had any issue with him, and I’m confident he’s going to be here at the start of the season.”
However, since those words, the landscape has changed, with Isak looking increasingly likely to move on this summer.
