Newcastle United remain bullish about Alexander Isak’s future and are planning to offer him a new deal, though Champions League qualification could be key.
Luke Edwards reports for The Telegraph that Newcastle United intend to hand Alexander Isak a new contract at the end of the season, and they remain adamant he’s not for sale at any price.
Talks to extend Isak’s deal were paused last year, but sources stress Isak isn’t distracted by transfer speculation, and he’s told teammates he’s not thinking about leaving.
The plan is therefore to negotiate a new contract this summer, once the football is done for another season.
The one factor that Edwards admits could still impact the situation is Champions League football. The journalist concedes that failing to make the competition again this season could give Isak one reason to want to move on.
Reports on social media suggest Arsenal are preparing to bid £100m or more for Isak in the summer, with the player being Mikel Arteta’s primary target.
But whilst the Gunners have received some encourgement from Isak’s camp, they’ll need Newcastle to miss out on the Champions League for a transfer to be realistic.
Currently, that seems unlikely. Though Newcastle are outside the top four, they’re in fifth, which is likely to be a Champions League qualification place this season. Eddie Howe’s side are also in much better form than Nottingham Forest, just three points above them.
Forest’s draw with Liverpool wasn’t too bad a result, but a 3-2 home win over a dreadful Southampton side was underwhelming, and a subsequent 5-0 defeat to Bournemouth was a reality-check.
Unless Forest can rediscover their form immediately, Newcastle and Manchester City are likely to leapfrog them into third and fourth.
Then it would be up to Chelsea and Bournemouth (both one point behind Newcastle) to deny Howe’s team a Champions League spot. Unless that happens, a move for Isak may be doomed to fail from the start.