EDDIE HOWE admits if it was easy to persuade Alexander Isak to stay at Newcastle, he would have done it already.
Toon’s £150million-rated Swede is banished from Howe’s squad amid Liverpool’s transfer push.
And, after Saturday’s 2-0 friendly defeat by Atletico Madrid, Howe confessed: “The club will make a decision on his future — and I do not know what that will be.
“Of course, I have a preferred outcome but I also want players who really want to play for this football club.
“If it was that easy, I’d be doing it. And I’d have done it yesterday.”
Defeat by the Spaniards means Newcastle will head to Aston Villa for Saturday’s Prem opener without a pre-season win.
Howe admits his side lack a goal threat without Isak, but he added: “That would be a fair assessment but we can still win football matches.”
Howe also played down reports that Toon will refuse to sell Isak this month with Liverpool yet to follow up their rejected opening £110m offer.
He added: “Discussions are going on all the time but I am unaware of that.”
There was some relief for Howe when it emerged that the ankle injury which forced off Anthony Gordon should not rule him out of the Villa game.
Atletico scored second-half goals through ex-Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez and French star Antoine Griezmann.
Newcastle did not feel like a crisis club at kick-off with a full house and no discernible anger towards Isak.
At the end, however, the Toon Army’s silence was deafening.
It is no coincidence that the Magpies did not win a league game last season without Isak.
The nearest they came to scoring before half-time was when Kieran Trippier’s free-kick forced a full-length save out of Jan Oblak.
Joelinton flashed two headers wide and when he sent a third straight into Oblak’s arms, everyone was probably thinking about their absent No 9.
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