Football General Manager
- Diaz joins Bayern for €75m
- Howe: ‘No chance’ of Isak joining pre-season tour
- Liverpool now able to test Newcastle’s resolve
Diaz agreed a move to Bavaria for a reported fee of €75m (£65m/$88m) earlier today. That sale is expected to free the Reds up to lodge an official bid for Newcastle’s want-away striker, according to the Daily Mail.
Isak ruled himself out of the club’s pre-season tour of Asia with a thigh injury. While subsequent scans were clear, Howe said there is ‘no chance’ of the Swede joining his teammates for their upcoming games. The Newcastle boss also told Mail Sport that while it’s “business as usual” for his players, they would obviously miss a player of Isak’s quality.
How told Mail Sport: “It’s business as usual for the players. Naturally we’re going to miss a player of Alex’s quality and the group are going to feel that.u0026nbsp;
“There’s no denying that. I can’t sit here and claim that they won’t. But they’re a very a professional group of players and they’re doing brilliantly as far as I can see in terms of managing the situation.”
The respective transfer windows of the two clubs could not be going more differently. The Reds have spent close to £250m strengthening their title-winning squad, while Newcastle have routinely missed out on key transfer targets, aside from Anthony Elanga. Liverpool’s assumed pursuit of Isak will be particularly galling, as the Reds have already pipped the Magpies to the signing of Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt.
The decision over Isak’s future will likely be taken out of Howe’s hands completely, as while the Newcastle manager and his employers want to hold onto their best players, if Liverpool table an offer approaching £150m, they may be compelled to sell. Now Diaz has departed, expect the Anfield-club to test Newcastle’s resolve in the coming days.
