Eddie Howe's strong message on Alexander Isak amid ongoing Arsenal transfer talk
HE can claim to be the best forward in the Premier League at the moment, but Eddie Howe still thinks there is a lot more to come from Alexander Isak.
The Newcastle striker made it ten goals in his last ten league games when he scored his side’s second goal in their Boxing Day win over Aston Villa, with his 11 league goals for the season bettered only by Mo Salah, Erling Haaland and Cole Palmer ahead of the current round of matches.
With the transfer window due to reopen on Wednesday, there has been mounting speculation over Isak’s future, with Arsenal known to have a long-standing interest.
The Newcastle hierarchy are adamant they will not be selling Isak next month, and Howe is looking forward to the improvement he can still help elicit from the 25-year-old rather than thinking about how on earth the Magpies could begin to contemplate trying to replace him.
“There is a lot more to come from him,” said the Newcastle head coach. “Our job is to help him deliver that. Of course, the main responsibility is for Alex to keep his focus, ignore the plaudits and keep helping the team. He can’t be selfish, it is about Newcastle and he plays his part.
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“But, with Alex, the beauty of his attitude is that he wants to improve. We give him information and he is responsive. He is not a closed shop. He is in no way thinking he has arrived at a certain place. He knows he has to keep adding to his game, and the challenge is great for him to keep scoring freely as he is now.”
That will mean continuing to keep making minor tweaks to his game, with Howe happy to keep pushing in an attempt to help Isak improve.
“His game is in a good place at the moment, but my job is to not sit back and appreciate that, my job is to try and find areas he can improve,” said Howe. “It’s to push him towards that and never stop pushing. He has all the ingredients in there, but football never stops evolving and changing, and he has to evolve with it.”
