Alexander Isak injury update ahead of West Ham vs Newcastle | Football

Eddie Howe says Alexander Isak has ‘trained every day this week’ and is ‘fine’ to play in Newcastle United’s clash with West Ham on Monday night.

Isak was spotted with heavy strapping below his right knee in training during the week – but that has been the case for much of the season.

The Sweden international was withdrawn late on during Newcastle’s FA Cup defeat to Brighton last time out to raise concerns over his fitness.

But Newcastle boss Howe has confirmed the striker is all good to feature against West Ham on Monday in the Magpies’ next Premier League game.

‘He’s fine,’ Howe said about Isak in his pre-match press conference on Friday, three days before Newcastle’s trip to the London Stadium.

‘He came off [against Brighton on Sunday] feeling fatigued, a tightness in his body. But he’s trained every day this week.’

The positive injury update over Isak is a boost for Newcastle, with the 25-year-old having scored 19 goals across 24 top-flight games this term.

Isak’s stunning form has seen him linked with a move away from the club, with Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid all thought to be interested in a potential transfer in the summer.

Newcastle, though, have slapped a hefty price tag on Isak and have no desire whatsoever to let him depart, with the club plotting new contract talks with the player in order to keep him at St James’ Park.

Isak currently earns £120,000 a-week at Newcastle and is under contract at the club until the summer of 2028.

Newcastle chief executive Darren Eales spoke about Isak’s future earlier this week and said: ‘The reality is that all of our players are under long-term deals. They’re committed to the club. So, from that perspective, we’re not looking to move any player on.

‘We’ve got that wish and desire to keep our key players [and] we’re not under the gun [to sell] or anything like that. We’ve got an ownership that is ambitious [and] wants the best for the club. So from that perspective, it’d be crazy for us to consider it.

‘You would rather have people talking about players than not in the sense we know he is a world-class player and he is somebody, obviously, other clubs would covet because he is an incredible player.

‘It is part and parcel of the world we live in, but it is frustrating. It is part of what football is, everybody wants to have a story [transfer speculation] and talk about it but when you think about the growth of Newcastle we have the ambition to be a top club.

‘There is a sense of annoyance as we are almost seen as the next category down and it is fair game to talk about our players but we are striving as a club to be at the top table and we want our best players here and to be honest it shows the value Isak has that they talk about him all the time.

‘We’re going to be clear – he has multiple years left [on his current deal]. So like all of these things, we will have the discussions in terms of a new deal just like we did with Joelinton, Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon. That’s something that we will approach in the summer.’

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