Alexander Isak has made a belated attempt to rebuild bridges at Newcastle by thanking his former teammates, St James’ Park staff and the club’s fans for their support during his three years on Tyneside.
When Isak joined Liverpool for £125m on Monday evening the Sweden striker departed a squad and a city thoroughly disillusioned by his decision not to train with or play for Eddie Howe’s team for the majority of this summer. Ultimately that tactic succeeded in forcing the move to Anfield he had long craved but, along the way, a player who scored 27 times for Newcastle last season shredded his reputation there.
In a conciliatory Instagram post that, perhaps tellingly, made no direct mention of Howe, Isak wrote: “I want to express my gratitude to my team-mates, the staff and, above all, the city of Newcastle and the amazing supporters for the three unforgettable years we shared together. Together we have written history and brought the club to the place where it truly belongs. It has been an honour to be part of the journey – from reaching the Champions League to winning the first trophy in over 70 years. Forever grateful. Thank you, Newcastle.”
As the 25-year-old attempted to burnish his image, Isak’s representative, Vlado Lemic, was anything but on-message in a cryptic barb quite clearly aimed at Newcastle.
“It’s nice when you have someone to be with,” said the Serb in a statement offered to Talksport, “but even nicer when you know who you’ll never be with again.” Newcastle blame Lemic for advising Isak to go on strike as he tried to engineer a route to Anfield.
Isak was all smiles as he was pictured training with his Sweden teammates on the outskirts of Stockholm at the start of the international break on Tuesday. He is scheduled to address the Swedish football media alongside his international manager, the former Newcastle striker Jon Dahl Tomasson, later this week.
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It is unclear how much involvement Isak will have in Sweden’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers in Slovenia and Kosovo after not playing first-team football for so long.
