Newcastle United chief executive Darren Eales has fired a transfer warning to Arsenal and Liverpool over their star striker Alexander Isak.
Arsenal have long been interested in a deal for Isak and view the Sweden international as their top priority for the next summer transfer window, although it has been suggested that he may be deemed too expensive.
Liverpool have also been strongly linked to Isak in recent weeks and have reportedly already launched a player-plus-cash offer for the 25-year-old.
Arsenal and Liverpool are thought to be the two most likely destinations for Isak at this moment in time – but the Premier League star has also attracted interest from a number of other top-flight and European clubs.
Chelsea have been described as the only club who can actually afford Isak while Manchester United are reportedly keeping tabs on the situation too ahead of a potential summer transfer battle for the Newcastle star.
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La Liga giants Real Madrid and Barcelona have also joined the race for Isak’s signature, with Newcastle recently setting a new price of £160m.
But there is bad news for all clubs looking to bring in Isak with Newcastlechief Eales revealing that the Magpies are set to reopen contract talks with the player and that they would be ‘crazy’ to sell him in the summer window.
Isak, who has produced 19 goals and five assists across 24 Premier League games so far this season, currently earns £120,000 a-week at Newcastle and is under contract at the club until the summer of 2028.
Eales has been left ‘annoyed’ over Isak being linked with a move away from Newcastle and says Eddie Howe’s side are under no pressure to sell at all.
‘The reality is that all of our players are under long-term deals,’ Eales said. ‘They’re committed to the club. So, from that perspective, we’re not looking to move any player on. We’ve got that wish and desire to keep our key players [and] we’re not under the gun [to sell] or anything like that.
‘We’ve got an ownership that is ambitious [and] wants the best for the club. So from that perspective, it’d be crazy for us to consider it.’
Speaking specifically about Isak, the Newcastle chief added: ‘You would rather have people talking about players than not in the sense we know he is a world-class player and he is somebody, obviously, other clubs would covet because he is an incredible player.
‘It is part and parcel of the world we live in, but it is frustrating. It is part of what football is, everybody wants to have a story [transfer speculation] and talk about it but when you think about the growth of Newcastle we have the ambition to be a top club.
‘There is a sense of annoyance as we are almost seen as the next category down and it is fair game to talk about our players but we are striving as a club to be at the top table and we want our best players here and to be honest it shows the value Isak has that they talk about him all the time.
‘We’re going to be clear – he has multiple years left [on his current deal]. So like all of these things, we will have the discussions in terms of a new deal just like we did with Joelinton, Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon. That’s something that we will approach in the summer.’