Newcastle boss Eddie Howe wants clarity over Alexander Isak’s future

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has called for clarity over Alexander Isak’s future after seeing his side edged out by suitors Liverpool in a five-goal thriller at St James’ Park.

Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan was among the crowd as 16-year-old substitute Rio Ngumoha snatched a 3-2 win for the Reds – in the process becoming the fourth youngest goalscorer in Premier League history behind James Vaughan, James Milner and Wayne Rooney – deep into stoppage time amid reports the owners had met Isak earlier in the day.

Head coach Howe insisted after the game he was not party to what was said during those discussions, but admitted a decision over the Sweden international – the subject of a rejected £110million bid from the Reds – was needed sooner rather than later.

Howe said: “I’ve not been party to talks on this for a long time now. I’ve been preparing the team and giving all my energy to the players that want to play for Newcastle. I think that is where my energy is best put at the moment.

“We want clarity, we want to move forward, we want the narrative to change because we’re in the start of the season now.

“We’re into the action and we’ve got to get results, and we’ve got to try to focus on what we can control. We’ve given two really, really good performances, we’ve ended up with one point. That’s tough for us to take, especially in this moment where you’re looking for positives to cling to.

“But we battle through and we now go on to Leeds.”

UNBELIEVABLE!!!!