Newcastle United have put a £150m price tag on Alexander Isak, in hopes of scaring off interested parties like Arsenal.
At the end of last month, Luke Edwards reported for The Telegraph that Newcastle United blocked talks for Alexander Isak in the summer by quoting a fee of £150m for the player, immediately scaring off Chelsea.
Edwards adds that Newcastle have no intention of lowering that figure in the coming windows, and they may well look to extend the striker’s contract instead.
Contract talks were postponed earlier in 2024, but Newcastle intend to start them up again at some point.
Isak is already under contract until 2028.
Edwards reports that Arsenal would struggle to come up with the money needed to open talks for Isak, and Newcastle sources suggest the club have no interest in selling.
Those sources are reportedly offended by all the exit talk, suggesting it’s ‘disrespectful’ to imply he needs to leave Newcastle and that the rumours may be ‘designed to unsettle the player’.
The obvious counter-argument is that all of the clubs being linked with Isak are above Newcastle in the table and taking part in European competition. A move to Arsenal, or Chelsea, Liverpool, PSG, Barcelona, Real Madrid, or any of the other linked clubs would objectively be a step up for the player.
Yet, you can completely understand why Newcastle will take the stance they’re taking.
Isak has 13 goals and four assists in 20 appearances this season, with 16 of those goal contributions coming in 17 Premier League games.
Until December, Newcastle have been inconsistent as a team this season, but Isak is one of the players raising their level on a regular basis. There’s no reason why they’d want him to leave at this stage.