Isak's Newcastle absence explained after Liverpool and Saudi transfer links

Alexander Isak was spotted training by himself at Newcastle, sparking renewed rumours about his future at the club following interest from Liverpool and the Saudi Pro League

There was a simple reason behind Alexander Isak training alone at Newcastle – but rumours about his future are not going away. Newcastle fans went into meltdown on Tuesday when pictures emerged showing him training by himself following a week of turbulence involving the star striker.

Isak was not part of the squad which was thrashed 4-0 by Celtic on Saturday in Glasgow, with Eddie Howe deciding to take him out of the spotlight. “I chose to send him home,” the Newcastle boss said post-match.

“The last thing Alex wants if he is not playing is to be sat in the stand and under that scrutiny, then if he wasn't going to play today, we mutually agreed he shouldn't be here.

“It was my decision. He travelled back to Glasgow with us, but I decided to send him home due to the speculation around him. Both [ Joelinton and Isak] are fit but not ready to play. Alex has trained and is fine but we didn't want to take the risk with him.”

Those comments were an attempt to clear things up, but arguably only increased the speculation around the Swedish star. The fact he was then shown training away from his team-mates added to the furore.

But NewcastleWorld says Isak was training by himself as a precaution after undergoing a scan on a thigh injury. It came back clear, yet even still the reports around the striker continue, with talkSPORT saying he is demanding a huge wage increase.

Isak currently earns around £120,000 per week with the Magpies, but he is reportedly agitating for £300,000-a-week in order to sign a new deal amid interest from Saudi Arabia. His current terms still have three years left to run, but Newcastle know they are potentially vulnerable to clubs who can offer him more money.

Before pushing ahead to sign Hugo Ekitike for £79million from Eintracht Frankfurt, Liverpool contacted Newcastle to enquire about a possible £120m deal for Isak last week. That approach could end up demolishing Newcastle’s wage structure, which currently has Bruno Guimaraes as the top-earner on £160,000-a-week.

With the Liverpool threat gone, Isak is expected to join his team-mates on Newcastle’s pre-season tour of Asia. And Howe is absolutely clear on what the future will hold for their star striker.

“We have a few of those players who are irreplaceable,” Howe said. “Your top players are so hard to find, so hard to recruit and so hard to develop. So when you have them, you need to treasure them. Of course we're desperate to keep him as part of our team.

“I think it's difficult for me to ever give 100 per cent clarity on any player, I'd never do that. All I can say is Alex is happy at Newcastle, he loves the players, the staff, the team. I've never had any issue with him and I'm confident he's going to be here at the start of the season."