Former Toon boss Graeme Souness believes Newcastle may be wise to “cash in” on Alexander Isak “while his value is at a premium and fears the striker will push for a move if we fail to qualify for the Champions League this season.
Isak was integral in dragging us into seventh place last year, despite suffering from injuries, and proved to be one of the most lethal strikers in Europe with 21 goals in 30 league appearances.
The Swede has endured a mixed start to the season, but Souness feels he will “fancy himself as a Champions League regular” and present Newcastle with the perfect time to cash in if we miss out on the top four this season. The former may be true – he is that good – but it’s naive to suggest we’ll be looking to sell a world-class striker we’d struggle to replace…
On Isak, Souness said: “I listened to Eddie Howe’s press conference (last Friday) and he might be fighting an uphill battle to keep Alexander Isak beyond this season if Newcastle do not qualify for the Champions League.
“His value to the club is still there next summer because he will still have three years on his contract. He is 25 years old and approaching his peak. He will fancy himself as a Champions League regular, even though he didn’t look like that when missing chances in the 1-0 defeat by Brighton last week.
“Newcastle fans won’t want to hear this, but it could make sense for Newcastle to cash in while his value is at a premium, especially given the difficulties they have encountered with PSR.”
Souness may be right in that Isak is good enough to be playing Champions League football and won’t stay forever if we aren’t achieving that soon. However, talk that we should be looking to ‘cash in while we can’ is a slightly odd take. PSR may be an issue, but thee club have made it clear that we’ll look to keep our top players, not actively look to sell.
Isak still has three years left on his current contract, so Newcastle are well protected on that front despite conflicting reports over a potential new improved deal.
Speaking on Isak’s situation last week, Howe said: “Alex has a long contract & we have to be really careful with our spending re PSR. I don’t see short-term issue with his contract. At this moment, Alex just needs to focus on football. We love him here & want him to stay”
Not everything is about goals or money, sometimes, just sometimes loyalty comes into, the Club and Fans mean something to the player.
Alan L. Wood(Quote)
Alan,
Hi Alan,
Don’t worry about loyalty: Isak is perfectly entitled to progress his career, either with us (extremely unlikely, unfortunately) or elsewhere (hello, Arsenal). He does not belong to Newcastle upon Tyne, nor indeed England, as you well know, so “loyalty” is a fantasy.
I hope he stays with us for the next 10 years, he totally is quality, but I’m pretty sure we’ll be waving bye-bye with a very fat cheque in our hands in summertime (we most definitely, absolutely, won’t be in the Champions League again next year, and Arsenal most definitely, absolutely, will).
It’s just the way things are.
davewallace(Quote)
Very rarely, I’m afraid. Isak will enjoy the adulation of the fans while he’s still there, of course, but he’ll be soon kissing his Arsenal badge.
The Panther(Quote)
Spot on Dave.
The Panther(Quote)