Alexander Isak of Newcastle United celebrates with his Carabao Cup winners' medal(Image: James Marsh/REX/Shutterstock)

Newcastle United handed huge Alexander Isak transfer boost with Howe backing plea

by · ChronicleLive

Newcastle United fans could be forgiven for being sick of hearing warnings of how they will have to match Alexander Isak's ambition to ensure he stays at the club for the forseeable future.

After constant stories linking him with moves to Arsenal, Liverpool or big-name European giansts such as Barcelona, the narrative has at least shifted a little to focus on what they must do it keep him. All the while, the club have stayed calm, insisting new contract talks will get under way the in the summer, while the player himself has batted away any questions over his future.

So the unbridled joy which accompanied his goal in the 2-1 Carabao Cup final victory over Liverpool on Sunday may also have contained just a slice finger pointing to all those who believe he will outgrow the Magpies. Certainly Isak's post-match celebrations were not those of someone who feels bigger than the occasion.

However, it's fair to say that United will only continue to grow - both in terms of signing quality players and keeping the ones they already have - but qualifying for Europe and challenging for silveware. To that end, Sunday's victory was not only the end of the decades of hurt, but the signal that Newcastle are here to compete at the highest level.

It's something which will stand them in good stead in the summer, something which has not got unnoticed amid the Wembley celebrations.

“Newcastle’s Carabao Cup victory will certainly help their chances of keeping Alexander Isak at the club in the summer without a doubt,” former Blackburn and Tottenham midfielder Tim Sherwood told Norsk Poker. “They don’t need the money, it depends on what the financial fair play situation is, but he’s an £150million player at least – he is top draw.

“His finish on Sunday showed that, he made it look so easy, and I’d say he is the best centre forward out there now. He’s flexible too, he can come off the wings, he can drop in and go in between. He looks to have a fantastic attitude and seems a top lad. He's worshipped at that club, and it’ll be very hard to leave that behind; I think he’d be difficult to prise away.”

Sherwood was impressed with how Eddie Howe set his side up against Liverpool. The Reds may be Premier League champions-elect, but Newcastle outplayed them on the Wembley turf, and Sherwood has urged the club to back Howe in the summer transfer window.

Hopefully, the club can get some finances in place to back Eddie Howe and give him an opportunity," he added. "He took the club to the Champions League, he’s broken the trophy drought and there’s no reason why they can’t go on from that.

“His gameplan nullified Mohamed Salah. Valentino Livramento did a great job keeping him quiet, Salah does the most damage when getting the ball early and hurting teams that way. He didn’t get the ball early yesterday and that was because of the pressure Newcastle put him under. He can’t hurt you if he doesn’t have the ball. It was a great job by Howe, his gameplan was perfect and a lot of praise must go to the midfield three for carrying it out.”

NUFC win Carabao Cup

We thought you'd like a handy highlights guide to our best coverage of Newcastle United's Carabao Cup win: