Eddie Howe has now told Newcastle United that it would be akin to ‘giving up’ if they sold one of their prized assets this summer.
It’s been a whirlwind week or so for Howe and Newcastle, who have marked the end of their PSR concerns with the appointment of sporting director Paul Mitchell.
The 42-year-old’s arrival should be a source of real optimism for the club moving forward, who seemed to have been lacking a leader in negotiations of late.
Mitchell has strong experience in scouting and recruitment after time at all of Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, RB Leipzig and Monaco.
And given there’s only 43 days until the new Premier League season begins, Mitchell will be immediately put to test.
That being said, it now feels as if this month and next will be predominantly focused on how Newcastle can improve their squad – as opposed to a June which was all about keeping their integral stars.
Although it now seems pretty concrete that Alexander Isak will stay on Tyneside, it wasn’t always so clear.
Eddie Howe told Newcastle they should ‘give up’ on ambitions if Alexander Isak was sold
Arsenal were credited with interest in Isak earlier in the summer, and Chelsea have been on his tail recently.
And to that end, The Athletic have now been sharing some insight into Howe’s words during Newcastle’s recruitment discussions about the possibility of Isak leaving.
Howe made it very clear that if Newcastle were to seriously consider allowing Isak to leave the club this summer, then they should ‘give up’ on their immediate ambitions.
The manager expressed that Newcastle wouldn’t be able to compete at the top without Isak in the medium-term, a player who would be incredibly hard to replace.
Fortunately, Newcastle agreed with their manager, and didn’t waver in the face of Chelsea’s recent enquiry for their ‘brilliant’ striker.
Instead, Newcastle will now be able to tentatively plan for the new season with all three of their most prized assets: Isak, Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon.
Although, were the club to receive serious offers for the latter two names mentioned, it remains to be seen how each individual would react.
Gordon in particular was said to have had his head turned by Liverpool’s interest, intrigued to discuss a return to his boyhood club.
Perhaps from Newcastle’s point of view, they will just feel as if they need to prove their ambition to their stars in the transfer market ahead.