Newcastle United have some brilliant players in their squad.
Indeed, it would have been fantastic to see Newcastle strengthen the options available to manager Eddie Howe this summer but, sadly, it could not be done due to financial restrictions.
Still, few would doubt the club boast some excellent players. They, after all, have the ninth most expensive squad in world football, according to the CIES Football Observatory.
Hopefully, the club will be able to keep a hold of them going forward. Owners PIF are understood to have stressed they remain ambitious at the club even despite the lack of spending, so selling key players would hardly be in keeping with that.
Interest in some of the bigger names, however, is natural.
Alexander Isak has been linked with a move away from St James’ Park of late and pundit Paul Merson talked up the prospect of him joining Arsenal.
Paul Merson now claims Newcastle star would make their big rivals an even better team
Speaking on Sky Sports before Sunday’s game with Nottingham Forest, Merson said of Isak: “I’m a big fan of this lad, I’m surprised Arsenal didn’t try and break the bank for him at the start of the season. I think he was the missing link for Arsenal.
“I think he can do everything. He can come short, get in the box, he can spread the game. That’s what you need when you’re at Arsenal you need to spread the game so you can get people like [Martin] Odegaard and [Bukayo] Saka on the ball.
“At the moment Arsenal are a bit congested. They haven’t got that running beyond player who’s going to stretch the game. I’m a big fan, a really big fan. I thought his header last week [vs Arsenal] was outstanding.”
Newcastle’s relationship with Arsenal could impact Alexander Isak
The idea of seeing Isak join Arsenal is not very welcome indeed.
The two clubs are not thought to get along particularly well as it is, with Arsenal’s reported attempts to stop clubs with the ownership model Newcastle have from yielding significant spending power said to have cause “ongoing tension” at boardroom level.
Still, that’s not to suggest he couldn’t go – as painful as that would be to imagine.
Chris Waugh of The Athletic recently suggested the club would have a decision to make if an offer worth over £100m were to come in, such is the need to ensure they remain on the right side of the financial rules in the Premier League.
In an ideal world, however, Isak would not be the man to make Arsenal better…
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