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Eddie Howe has brushed off speculation linking Alexander Isak with a big-money move to Arsenal and urged Newcastle’s players to ‘ignore’ all the ‘noise and rumour’ this January.
Newcastle sit fifth in the Premier League table at the halfway stage of the campaign and could move into the top four with victory away to Tottenham this weekend.
Since taking over the reins at Newcastle in 2021, Howe has helped bring a sense of optimism back to St James’ Park, with the club battling for European football on a consistent basis once again under their Saudi owners.
But Newcastle’s trophy drought is approaching two decades and Howe has repeatedly underlined the importance keeping hold of the likes of Isak, Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon if the Magpies are to succeed in meeting their ambitions.
Isak’s future has been the subject of intense speculation in recent months, with the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool credited with an interest in the 25-year-old forward.
And while it will reportedly take an offer upwards of £150million to prise the Swede away from the north east, Paul Merson urged the Gunners to test Newcastle’s resolve just one day into the January transfer window.
‘If I was Arsenal and I had the money I would go out and buy Isak, I’d break the bank for him,’ ex-Arsenal and England midfielder Merson said on Sky Sports News.
‘I think he’s the best of the best and he takes Arsenal to another level,’
‘What I like about Jesus is he’s got back in the team this time around and he’s gone, “You know what, I’m going to get in the box, I need to score goals if I’m going to stay at this football team”, and that’s what he’s done.
‘That goal yesterday was a proper poacher’s goal. It’s very rare we say him in that six-yard box, heading them in from there.
‘With [Kai] Havertz coming back as well, he wasn’t well, it pushes Havertz back to midfield, but Havertz, naturally as a forward, will get in the box and there’s an extra body in there.
‘Hopefully, if Jesus can keep doing what he’s doing, they won’t have to [sign anyone], but I’m looking at the all-round picture and I’m looking at next season as well.
‘I think if they can get hold of Isak, who I think is the best in the business at the moment, I think that would be a massive coup for Arsenal. Sorry, Newcastle fans!’
Many Newcastle supporters took a dim view of Merson’s comments about Isak, which came at a crucial stage of the season for the club.
But facing the media this morning, Howe played down the significance of such talk and rumour, while underlining his intention to remain ‘focused on the facts’.
The Newcastle head coach told reporters: ‘I think it comes with the territory now to be honest. Maybe in my very early days that would have maybe left more of an impression, those comments. but I think when you’re in the position I’m in now you sort of ignore it and it’s irrelevant.
‘There will be so much talk, noise and rumour and you can’t control it all, you can’t even begin to try, so you just have to ignore it and focus on the facts I think.’
Asked directly about Merson’s remarks about Isak, Howe replied: ‘That’s the first I’m hearing of it so I’d probably need to see the comments. But our players are loved by us, wanted by us and we’ve got massive games to come.
‘We need them to perform so their focus can only be on what they’re delivering in the here and now.
We can only control what we can control but I don’t see that being an issue for us, especially in this window.
‘We’ve got so many big games to come. We’re very focused and the players are very focused on having a great season and that’s all that concerns us at the moment.’
Howe added: ‘We’re certainly not looking to help anybody out, that’s for sure.
‘It’s a hard enough league as it is to be consistently successful but we certainly need our best players here.’
Isak, who has scored 13 goals in 20 games this season, can be ‘anything he wants to be’ according to Howe.
‘I think he could be anything that he wants to be. He’s got a little bit of everything in his game which makes him so difficult to play against,’ the Toon boss went on.
‘I don’t think there’s one dimension of his game that he can’t do to a very good level.
‘His challenge is that teams will look and try to find a way to stop him continually, that will be a big focus for the opposition’s preparation.
‘His challenge is to find a way to continually hurt the opposition, to evolve his game and continue to improve.’
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