Alexander Isak NOT on plane for Newcastle pre-season tour amid contract dispute and Liverpool interest
ALEXANDER ISAK has not flown to Singapore with his team-mates for Newcastle’s Asia tour.
The Swede, 25, has been strongly linked with a big-money move to Liverpool this summer.
Isak did train with his team-mates during a pre-season camp in Austria earlier this month.
Newcastle have revealed that the striker will miss out on their Asia trip due to a “minor thigh injury”.
With Toon chiefs desperate to keep Isak despite Liverpool’s £120million interest, the Reds moved on by signing former Magpies target Hugo Ekitike in a mega £79m deal from Eintracht Frankfurt.
Isak has three years remaining on his contract at St James’ Park.
Previous co-owners Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi are understood to have promised the forward an improved package prior to their departure.
Amid a tricky PSR landscape, new Toon sporting director Paul Mitchell is said to have shelved those original contract plans, leaving Isak and his camp disappointed.
Isak earns around £130,000 a week at Newcastle.
SunSport understands that the prolific striker’s camp is coveting a new deal for their client worth around £300k a week.
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Mitchell and Co, however, decided that Isak is well paid as it is and that his Toon future is secure given that his contract runs until 2028.
Further talks were scheduled for this summer, but are not thought to have yet taken place amid Liverpool’s previous interest.
Newcastle are set to face Arsenal in Singapore this Sunday without Isak.
Eddie Howe‘s side will then fly to South Korea for matches against a K-League XI and Tottenham.
Their next game on home soil will be against Spanish side Espanyol at St James’ Park on August 8.
Even with Isak remaining among their ranks, Newcastle are after a new striker.
Former deputy Callum Wilson was allowed to leave on a free transfer last month, with the ex-England international having since been linked with West Ham.
Newcastle were beaten 4-0 by Celtic last weekend, with 21-year-old William Osula starting up front.
Howe’s sole first team acquisition so far this summer has been Anthony Elanga, with Isak’s compatriot arriving in a £55m deal from Nottingham Forest earlier this month
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