Newcastle's current stance on Alexander Isak sale and reintegration revealed

With less than 72 hours until we kick off our Premier League campaign against Aston Villa, there's still no clear idea as to who will lead the lineup for Newcastle United.

Yoane Wissa is still some way away from signing, Will Osula failed to get off the mark during pre-season, and Anthony Gordon goalscoring record when deputising at no.9 leaves a lot to be desired.

And of course, there's the elephant in the room: what is going on with Alexander Isak, the club's best attacking threat whose only goal at this moment in time looks to be moving to Liverpool.

But once the window shuts, it's a completely different story. If Isak is still at St James' Park come September, then the club believes a very real chance that he can be reintegrated into the squad in as smooth a way as possible.

Edwards: "Not too late to repair relationship"

According to The Telegraph's Luke Edwards, insiders within the club believe that not only will Isak stay on Tyneside, but the club will do all it can to ensure that last season's top goalscorer is slowly eased back into the squad as possible.

Though we still scour the market for a good enough alternative to Isak, the feeling at the club is that there is no striker currently available who can come right in and play at the level we need them to be at.

On the matter, Edwards write “ 'even a sulky, distracted and unhappy Isak will be better' than any of the strikers who remain on the market."

There's still the concern that Isak will be in an even worse, negative mindset should he not have secured his dream move to Merseyside. Edwards notes that internal feelings are that we aren't likely to get the same Isak who has dazzled the pitch over the last three seasons.

However, in a vital World Cup year, and both he and his agent surely not wanting to plummet his stock any further, Isak would be very wise to continue playing to a high standard to not only try and rebuild some good faith in him, but undo any damage he's done to his image in the past few weeks.

Should Howe and the team accept Isak back into the squad?

Publicly, Eddie Howe has been very open about how much he'd like to see Isak remain at St James' Park, still valuing him as an essential member of his squad.

However, behind-the-scenes you must imagine that Isak's actions have greatly disrupted the squad harmony, and Howe has since affirmed that he only wants those who want to play for Newcastle United to continue playing at the club.

So the gaffer has a difficult decision to make: put our Champions League efforts on the line and continue to push for a new name at Isak's expense, or gamble on the 25-year-old learning the error of his ways, apologising to the club for his actions, and getting back to his very best when we need him the most.