Newcastle directors Jamie Reuben and Jacobo Solis visited Alexander Isak at his house yesterday ahead of the game with Liverpool.
The group held talks about the striker’s future, which remains up in the air with less than a week of the transfer window remaining.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said he wanted clarity on the situation in his post-match following the late home defeat to Liverpool.
When asked about the talks by Sky Sports immediately after the 3-2 defeat, he said: “I wasn’t aware of it. Talks have been going on since Alex decided not to go on tour with us. I’ve concentrated on coaching the team so I’ve got no update for you.”
Newcastle chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan was present at the game but was not part of the talks with Isak at his house earlier in the day.
Who are Jamie Reuben and Jacobo Solis?
Newcastle currently have six directors, including Al-Rumayyan who was at St James’ Park on Monday evening.
Jacobo Solis is the head of public investments for Saudi PIF, the fund that owns Newcastle, and is the newest member of the club’s board after being named a director last December. He previously worked as an investment banker in the USA. He is also involved in LIV Golf and the E1 power-boating series.
Jamie Reuben is the son of British billionaire investor David Reuben, and has been a co-owner of Newcastle since 2021. He was previously on the board of directors at QPR.
Howe focused on ‘players who want to be at Newcastle’
Howe revealed in his post-match press conference that he has not spoken to Isak for almost a week, and said his full focus had been on preparing his team for the Monday Night Football clash.
The Newcastle boss further admitted he would prefer to have Isak’s situation sorted before the end of the transfer window, which closes at 11pm on September 1 – but is leaving the 25-year-old’s future up to those above him at St James’ Park.
He said: “I’ve not been party to talks on this for a long time now. I’ve been concentrating on preparing the team and giving all my energy to the players who want to play for Newcastle, I think that’s where it’s best placed now.
“It would be ideal to have clarity and move forward, and change the narrative because it’s the start of the season and we’ve got to get results and focus on what we can control.
“The quality of Alex would’ve made a difference in the two games, there’s no denying that. But the team has functioned really well. That doesn’t happen without every part of the team functioning well.”
Guimaraes: No one wins if the team loses
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Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes reflected on the loss against Liverpool and commented on the absence of Alexander Isak
Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes to Sky Sports:
“We always try to give our best, it’s exactly what the message means. No one wins if the team loses. There’s a lot of noise outside we can’t control.
“I can’t say anything, it’s much bigger than me and I’m not in control of things going on outside. The focus is just to play for the club, make the fans proud and I think they left the stadium thinking that today. We lost but football is like that sometimes.”
‘Newcastle are spinning plates as deadline approaches’
Sky Sports News reporter Keith Downie:
“For Newcastle, it feels very much at the moment like spinning plates. We don’t yet know what is going to happen with Alexander Isak whether he will remain a Newcastle United player or not but they’re ensuring that they’re doing everything they can to get in replacements should he move to Liverpool.
“It will be interesting to see whether Newcastle go in with an improved bid for Morgan Strand Larsen – clearly Eddie Howe is looking for striking reinforcements.
“They don’t want to overspend though. I spoke to him just a couple of days ago in the build-up to Monday’s game. He said they don’t want to overspend but they know they need strikers in because they’re playing not just in the Premier League this season but they’ve got a Champions League campaign to contend with as well.”
Sky Sports to show 215 live Premier League games this season
215 live Premier League matches up from 128 this season on Sky Sports
This season, Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage will increase from 128 matches to at least 215 games exclusively live.
And 80 per cent of all televised Premier League games this season will be on Sky Sports.