According to the latest reports, English Premier League side Newcastle United are at very real risk of losing star forward Alexander Isak, who joined the club in 2022. The 25-year-old Swedish international is reportedly a target for both Arsenal and Liverpool.
Will Isak leave Newcastle in the summer transfer window?
It’s hard to say, but if the money is right, Newcastle may be tempted to let him go. The club are reportedly demanding £ 150 million. One way to gauge whether Isak is likely to switch clubs this summer is to check the latest odds offered by trusted online bookmakers. Newcastle fans interested in EPL betting may have seen that the odds suggest Isak will stay for another season. One bookmaker offers 4/9 (1.44) for Isak to stay at Newcastle, 7/1 (8.00) for him to join Arsenal, 11/4 (3.75) for him to choose Liverpool, and 25/1 (26.00) for Manchester City to swoop in. Other outside clubs to sign the forward include Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, and Barcelona. “Any Saudi Arabian Team” is offered at 50/1 (51.00). Isak is also currently the second favourite to finish as Premier League top goalscorer, with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah the odds-on favourite at 1/100.
Can Isak help Newcastle qualify for the Champions League?
After Newcastle’s historic victory in the Carabao Cup (their first trophy in 70 years), the club have set their sights on Champions League qualification. Thanks to English clubs’ UEFA coefficients, there will almost certainly be at least 5 clubs that qualify. There could be up to 7, depending on whether one of Man United or Tottenham Hotspur win the Europa League, and whether Aston Villa or Arsenal win the Champions League but finishes outside the top 5. Isak has only made 5 career appearances in the Champions League. Newcastle were drawn in the “group of death” last season, with Borussia Dortmund, PSG, and Milan. Though there were some memorable games, Newcastle finished bottom of the group with 1 win, 2 draws, and 3 defeats. He was at Dortmund earlier in his career, but Isak didn’t play in the Champions League during that time. He only made 5 league appearances for the senior side before being loaned to Willem II and then transferring to Real Sociedad.
Newcastle’s historic stars and PSR
The Athletic’s George Caulkin recently wrote about past fan favourites being sold. Newcastle have a “rich, depressing history” of selling stars like Peter Beardsley, Chris Waddle, Paul Gascoigne, and Andy Cole in the 1980s and 90s. The replacements were inadequate and Newcastle have rarely challenged at the top since. Caulkin notes that the profit and sustainability rules (PSR) mean that every club must eventually sell. Newcastle “filled a £60million blackhole” by selling Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh last summer, and then got Lloyd Kelly and Miguel Almiron off the wage bill in January. They will enter the next transfer window in a better position and, depending largely on Champions League qualification, may be able to invest significantly. Chief executive Darren Eales said that every player has a price, but the club has “no intention” of selling players like Isak. He said the ownership was ambitious and “wants the best for the club.”
Would Isak be a good fit for Arsenal?
Arsenal have recently benefitted from Mikel Merino’s unexpected shift to a forward position, but they’ll likely still want a new striker this summer. Sky Sports has reported the club are tracking Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams and Sporting’s Viktor Gyokeres, who would be more affordable than Isak. Caulkin’s fellow Athletic writers Jordan Campbell and Art de Roché recently debated, “Should Arsenal go all-in on Isak or spread their spending around the squad?” Isak’s suggested £150million price tag would swallow most of Arsenal’s budget. Art de Roché said they should “go all in” on Isak, and that the Newcastle star could have a similar impact on the team as Declan Rice did in 2023 and Gabriel Jesus managed in 2022. Jesus’s relative lack of appearances and form is one reason Arsenal are interested in Isak. The Brazilian has only made 3 league appearances this season. In the 2022/23 season, Jesus scored 11 league goals and made 6 assists. Last season though, he only managed 4 league goals. Jordan Campbell wrote, “[Mikel] Arteta’s outlook has been that it is best to have as wide a base of goalscorers as possible, but it has not proven to be enough versus Erling Haaland or Mohamed Salah.”
Does Isak want to stay at Newcastle?
Isak said in March that he will “probably” start contract talks with the club in the summer. Per The Daily Mail, the attacker said when asked about a new contract, “Yeah, yeah. I think I’ve said, I’m not really thinking about the summer. But yeah, that’ll probably be a talking point once the season is finished. We will really see, because no talks have been held yet.” He said he doesn’t think too much about the future, and that he believed Newcastle could match his ambitions. Since the club has won the Carabao Cup, fans will be hoping that was the first trophy of many.
That is an awful lot of words, when one ‘NO’ would do.
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