Wayne Rooney makes Alexander Isak teammate claim ahead of Newcastle vs Liverpool

Wayne Rooney has weighed in with his thoughts on how Newcastle players will view the ongoing saga involving talisman Alexander Isak ahead of the first home game of the season against Liverpool.

Newcastle host Liverpool at St James' Park on Monday night in what is sure to be a fiery affair after the Reds' pursuit of their wantaway star - who wants out of the North East club.

Isak, who was the subject of a £110 million Liverpool bid which was turned down, has been training separately from the squad and expected to miss Newcastle's second game of the season amid all the ongoing speculation about his future.

The Swede broke his silence with a statement where he accused the club of "broken promises" and not allowing him to move on to a new challenge.

In response, Newcastle said they "have been clear that the conditions of a sale this summer have not transpired" but stressed he will be welcomed back "when he is ready to rejoin his teammates".

Alexander Isak is still training alone at Newcastle. Image: Getty

Wayne Rooney's opinion on Alexander Isak

However, United's record goalscorer Rooney does not take the same view and says that if he was a Newcastle player, he would not want Isak to return to the fold after his antics.

Rooney, who once handed in a transfer request at United after being unhappy with the direction the club, stated "there is a way to go about it and you can't go strike".

"If I'm a Newcastle player I don't want him [Isak] back," he said on his new BBC podcast 'The Wayne Rooney Show'.

"I think player leave football clubs, and that happens all the time but there's a way to go about it and you can't go on strike. He's deserted you and he doesn't want to be there. He doesn't want to be your teammate.

"Newcastle are not happy with Isak's behaviour because Liverpool want to sign him, but then on the flipside of that, Newcastle are trying to sign Wissa, who's behaving in the exact same way."

Yoane Wissa also wants out at Brentford. Image: Getty

Newcastle played with Anthony Gordon through the middle in the 0-0 draw against Aston Villa, having struggled to bring in a new forward this summer.

The Magpies missed out on Hugo Ekitike to Liverpool and Benjamin Sesko to Manchester United but are still on the hunt for a striker.

One of their top targets is Brentford's Yoane Wissa, who is also absent from the first-team environment and took the step of unfollowing the club and deleting pictures from his Instagram.

Rooney believes both players are receiving bad advice from those around them.

"I think Wissa is in a worse position than what Isak is," Rooney added.

"At least there’s a bit of clarity on it, but for Wissa to just unfollow the club and take all your pictures down of a club who have helped you progress as a player, and again, if he wants to leave, I don’t think anyone would have a problem with that if it’s done the right way.

“But they’re very badly advised of what they’re doing because, agents have influence, a lot of people have their father or their brother as their agents now and sometimes the right thing or the right decision is not always from the player’s point of view.”