Glum Alexander Isak spotted training alone at Newcastle in club’s kit as explosive transfer row rumbles on

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ALEXANDER ISAK looked crestfallen as he was back in Newcastle training in club colours just hours after the star’s relationship with Toon turned nuclear.

The on-strike Swede, hellbent on signing for Liverpool, finally went public with his desire to leave in a bombshell statement on Tuesday.

Alexander Isak trained by himself after his Newcastle relationship turned nuclear

The striker cast an awkward figure after his bombshell transfer statement

Isak trained alongside an academy coach

He had no interaction with any senior staff or teammates

Last season’s 27-goal top scorer, who skipped the PFA Awards in Manchester, claimed the club had broken promises and that it would be “better that he left”.

Newcastle hit back with their own bold statement and stated that “no commitment has ever been made” that the 25-year-old could leave.

And tensions remained high as Isak awkwardly arrived at Newcastle’s Darsley Park HQ yesterday before the dust had settled on their public row.

The £150m-rated star, who is due to be fined over his refusal to play at Aston Villa, has been training by alone in order to keep his fitness up throughout the stand-off.

Isak cut a frustrated figure and was training away from all senior staff on Wednesday, with sources at NUFC Blog revealing that an academy coach was drafted in to do an afternoon session with the striker.

Sun Sport understands that the Magpies continue to provide him with all the necessary tools to train, as they are contracted to do, with no specific coach assigned to him.

A member of staff, carrying a bag of balls, was snapped working with the hotshot, who looked glum while decked out in Newcastle’s training gear out on the grass.

The NUFC blog source said: “Isak was doing little more than light jogging and passing off a rebound board before finishing into an empty net. To be honest it was all a bit sad.”

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It is understood boss Eddie Howe left the training complex five minutes after Isak arrived by the side entrance and there was no communication between the pair.

And it looks extremely unlikely that the matter will get resolved before Newcastle host Liverpool on Monday, even though his employers are seemingly ready to forgive and forget.

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Newcastle’s statement, and boss Howe, have continued to stress how they want Isak back in action as quickly as possible for them.

Their statement read: “Alex remains part of our family and will be welcomed back when he is ready to rejoin his team-mates.”

However, Isak’s teammate Joelinton liked a social media post from a fan group criticising the Swede, while Bruno Guimaraes uploaded a photo of himself proudly posing in Toon’s black-and-white jersey.

The mega fall-out unfolded amid Isak’s wish to join Premier League rivals Liverpool, who had a £110m bid flat out rejected by the Magpies.

Sun Sport has exclusively revealed that the Reds are set to return with a new and improved bid – which will be a new British-record £130m – in order to try and end the saga.

But Newcastle have made it clear that they will continue to snub all attempts from Anfield.

Isak’s swipe stems from what was believed to be a promise of a pay rise made by the club’s former co-owners Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi failing to materialise.

One of the first decisions from the now ex-sporting director Paul Mitchell upon his arrival last summer was to postpone contract negotiations due to Isak’s £130,000-a-week deal still having four years to run.

But, despite Mitchell’s exit and Newcastle’s willingness to smash their £150,000-a-week pay ceiling to make him the best-paid player in their history, the player’s relationship with the club appears completely broken.

Isak to Liverpool transfer saga timeline

JANUARY: First links to Liverpool emerge

FEBRUARY: £150million record fee mooted

MARCH: Isak denies Newcastle contract talk

APRIL: Eddie Howe hails Isak as “very professional.”

MAY: Howe insists Isak will not be sold
Last match in Newcastle shirt

JUNE: Transfer links to Liverpool heat up

JULY: Flies with Newcastle for Austria training camp
Left out of Celtic friendly
Liverpool hijack Toon’s Hugo Ekitike deal after making Isak enquiry
Doesn’t travel for pre-season tour of Singapore and South Korea, citing injury

AUGUST: Training by himself at Newcastle
Liverpool have £110m bid rejected
Isak stops training and goes on strike
Moves out of his apartment
Releases angry statement blasting ‘trust has been lost’
Newcastle respond by insisting he won’t be sold unless it benefits club

And their response to Isak’s social media post DENIED anything ever being promised to the £63m signing from Real Sociedad in 2022 as they continue to insist he will not be allowed to go until a replacement is signed and that the conditions for Isak to leave were not met.

Wayne Rooney declared that if he was a Toon star, he would not want Isak back in the team.

He said on The Wayne Rooney Show: “If I’m a Newcastle player, I don’t want him back.

“Players leave football clubs and that happens all the time, but there’s a way to go about it and you can’t go on strike.

“He’s deserted you and he doesn’t want to be there. He doesn’t want to be your teammate.

“Newcastle are not happy with Isak’s behaviour because Liverpool want to sign him, but then on the flipside Newcastle are trying to sign Yoane Wissa who’s behaving in the exact same way.

“I remember Anthony Gordon not playing for Everton because he wanted to go to Newcastle, so you can’t have it both ways.”

Newcastle, who want to bring in TWO strikers before the window shuts to help fill the void left by Callum Wilson, have been been rejected by the likes of Benjamin Sesko, Hugo Ekitike and Bryan Mbeumo already as their options dwindle.

And both they and Isak suffered a further blow when Brentford turned down a new-and-improved offer worth £40m for Yoane Wissa on Wednesday.

Shearer’s thoughts on Isak saga

Alan Shearer told The Rest Is Football podcast:

“Isak’s got three years left. You can’t not train or play. You’re being paid by the football club.

“Whatever reason, whatever hump you’ve got, you still have a duty to the other players because of that contract, and to the football club, to go and train and go and play.

“There’s a way of getting out of a football club, and refusing to train and play is not the right way.”

When asked by Gary Lineker if Isak’s situation mirrored that of Alexander-Arnold in his final months at Anfield, Shearer replied: “You can’t compare them at all.

“Trent came to the end of his contract, he didn’t refuse to play, he didn’t refuse to train.

“And then was well within his rights to leave. Isak’s got three years left on his contract. It doesn’t take a genius to work that out.

“I sat down with him five, six months ago and I didn’t see this in him. I thought he was a manager’s dream, the way he spoke.”

“So obviously something has massively upset him and we don’t know that. But those two circumstances, Trent and Isak, are totally different.”

Brentford’s wantaway DR Congo ace is still their No1 priority as the 28-year-old tries to force his own exit from the Bees.

He held talks with the West London club’s owner Matthew Benham on Tuesday and has also removed all association with Brentford from his Instagram account as his own relationship turns toxic.

The star, who scored 19 Prem goals last term, wants to join Newcastle and has become furious that they continue to refuse and sanction his exit.

Meanwhile, as Sun Sport reported this week, Wolves’ Norwegian international Jorgen Strand Larsen is another target for Toon boss Eddie Howe.

Unlike Wissa, he is not pushing to leave Wolves and won’t be agitating for an exit.

Newcastle are yet to firm up their interest with a formal bid or even an official approach to open negotiations with the Molineux outfit.

However, discussions have taken place between intermediaries where it has been made known that Strand Larsen is open to the move.

The 6ft 4in forward is an attractive option and is already proven in the Premier League after scoring 14 goals in 35 top-flight matches last term while on loan from Celta Vigo.

That form led to Wolves paying £23m to turn that into a permanent transfer having initially paid £2.5m for a loan fee.

And Vítor Pereira’s side would want to make a significant profit on that in order to convince them to sell.

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