Liverpool: Howe claims Isak saga is ‘coming to an end quickly’ as he reveals his clear ‘preference’

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has claimed that the Alexander Isak saga is set to “end quickly”, while he has revealed his “preference” on the situation.

Isak has given Howe a severe headache in recent months as the world-class striker is intent on leaving Newcastle for Premier League rivals Liverpool.

It has been reported that Liverpool are willing to bid again for Isak, though this is unlikely to come before Monday’s match against Newcastle, who are keen to secure a suitable replacement before sanctioning the £150m star’s exit.

Unsurprisingly, Isak won’t feature against Liverpool as he is still training alone and is yet to be reintegrated into Newcastle’s first team.

It remains to be seen whether this will eventually happen as this saga took an ugly turn earlier this week, with Isak and Newcastle issuing statements to outline their respective stances on this situation.

Naturally, Howe was asked about Isak during his pre-match press conference on Friday morning, during which the head coach admitted that he hasn’t “seen” the striker “this week”, while the saga is “coming to an end”.

“I haven’t seen him this week,” Howe admitted.

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“I saw him last week. When I see him, we speak as normal. There are no issues there between us. It’s a difficult situation from both sides.

“It’s far from ideal for both parties. Alex is training later on and detached from the group. We will catch up at some stage.”

He added: “It looks like [the saga] is coming to an end, or it will come to an end pretty quickly.”

Howe has also insisted that he would have “preferred” for this saga to have been “dealt with behind closed doors”, while he has a “wish” relating to Isak.

“My preference for these things it that it doesn’t happen publicly,” Howe continued.

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“Everything is better dealt with behind closed doors but in this situation, needs must and in this situation the club has spoken and justifiably so in that moment.”

When asked whether Isak can return to the squad, Howe responded: “Of course [I want him to], he is contracted to us and he is our player.

“My wish is that he will be playing with us on Monday and 100% I want to see him back in a Newcastle shirt.”

In Isak’s absence, England international Anthony Gordon has started as a stand-in striker and Howe has praised the 24-year-old for doing the “job really well for the team”.

“He has done it enough to be able to do the job really well for the team,” Howe said.

“I have played him there a number of times both as a starter and as a substitute. He plays it differently to other strikers but that can be a positive in the respect that he has devastating pace and a strong work ethic.

“Of course he’s scored goals historically from wide areas but also from central areas and I think you can over play the change of position and I think he enjoys the role and he played really well last week.

“He had a lot of chances and a lot of shots so I thought it was a good display from him.”