Alexander Isak has reportedly been in contact with a manager during his summer transfer saga - and it’s not Eddie Howe or Arne Slot.
Isak, 25, has been the subject of interest from Liverpool in recent weeks, with the Reds having seen a £110m plus add-ons bid rejected by Newcastle earlier in August.
This came after the Swede was left out of Newcastle’s pre-season squad for their tour of Asia and was subsequently told to train away from the rest of the senior team by Howe.
As expected, Isak was left out of the Magpies’ match day squad ahead of the 0-0 draw against Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday.
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The 25-year-old has since broken his silence on the situation and claimed that “promises were made”, and when they are “broken, trust is lost”, so “the relationship can’t continue”.
The club responded with a statement of its own and explained how “no commitment has ever been made by a club official that Alex can leave Newcastle United this summer”.
The transfer saga will likely run until the September 1 deadline. And despite Isak seemingly lying low until he released his statement, one man who has been in contact with him is Sweden’s head coach and former Newcastle player Jon Dahl Tomasson.
Dahl Tomasson, 48, revealed how he had been in contact with Isak during an interview with Swedish outfit Fotbollskanalen.
“First of all: Alex is an extremely professional player,” said the Dane.
“A fantastic character and personality. I have spoken to Alex a lot during this period.
“Situations like this are quite complex. These are extremely complex environments that the players operate in.
“I’m sure it will work out in the end, but you have to know the whole picture before you draw conclusions. That’s always a good tip.”
He added: “I don’t think we know [the whole story]. I don’t know the whole picture either. It’s quite normal because there’s a lot of politics in a football club.
“But one thing is for sure: Alex is a great guy and very professional. We should all be very careful about drawing conclusions because we don’t know the bigger picture.”
The 48-year-old was then asked whether he’d decide against calling Isak up to the national team in September due to his lack of action this summer.
“There is time,” Dahl Tomasson explained. “He is a professional, and I know he has been training.
“Of course, he hasn’t trained with a team and hasn’t played any matches. Let’s wait and see.
“We will have a good chat, Alex and I, and hopefully he will be back in team training soon.”
Topics: Alexander Isak, Newcastle United, Liverpool, Transfer News, Premier League, Football
Luke Davies