In response to rumours that Arsenal and Tottenham are preparing bids, Eddie Howe maintains that Newcastle United does not “want to lose” Alexander Isak this summer.

The Swedish international has been playing well for the Magpies this season, making 31 appearances across all competitions and scoring 18 goals.
Isak, who joined St James’ Park in August 2022 for a club-record £63 million from La Liga side Real Sociedad, also scored ten goals in the Premier League in his debut season.

Additionally, The Sun claims that Arsenal and Tottenham, two Premier League teams, are planning to “launch £100 million approaches” for Isak this summer due to his outstanding play.

The source goes on to say that “big offers from Champions League clubs will be hard to resist” and that “fears remain that Newcastle may have to pay in to negotiate FFP laws, especially if they finish outside of the European places.”

It follows Chief Executive Darren Eales of Newcastle’s admission in January that the Magpies could need to sell players in order to meet Premier League financial regulations.

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“Trading your players is sometimes required if we are going to achieve where we want to go,” Eales stated.

“Whether that is because of the players’ contract duration, the offer is too good to refuse, or you need to reload in specific areas, all of this might make sense to trade.

Each person has a price in the PSR world. Consider Liverpool. In order to acquire Virgil van Dijk and Allison, they had to sell Philippe Coutinho.

“Aston Villa let go of Jack Grealish, and they reloaded and reinvested, while West Ham decided to trade Declan Rice.”

It is just the way the beast is. Trading players gives you additional headroom to spend, which you must continuously increase.

Isak, though, is not one of those players, according to Magpies manager Howe, who has forewarned Arsenal and Tottenham that “no one connected with Newcastle would want to lose him.”

Howe declared, “He is an incredible talent, and nobody associated with Newcastle would want to lose him.”

He performed admirably on Saturday. Although he did not score in open play, he played quite well overall and scored two excellent penalties.

“He appeared to be in a pretty good spot with his link play and athleticism.”