VIKTOR GOYEKERES VS. ALEXANDER ISAK | SWEDISH NATIONAL TEAM STATS

 

NEWCASTLE SET TO PUNISH ALEXANDER ISAK AS LIVERPOOL TRANSFER SAGA ESCALATES

Alexander Isak has not trained with Newcastle's first team since they returned from their pre-season tour of Asia, as he looks to force a move to Liverpool this summer.

Alexander Isak wants to join Liverpool. (Image: Getty)

Newcastle United are set to impose a club fine on Alexander Isak should he miss the first match of the Premier League season, as the striker is keen to secure a transfer to Liverpool. The Swedish international faces a penalty as his refusal to play for the Magpies coincides with their match against Aston Villa.

Isak has been pushing for a move to Liverpool this summer and hasn't trained with Eddie Howe's first team since their pre-season tour of Asia. The club's leading striker has been training separately from his teammates, who helped the club secure a Champions League spot last season.

Liverpool have already had a bid turned down by Newcastle this summer. Initially, Newcastle stated that the forward was not available for sale and it's not anticipated that the Reds will make another offer unless they're encouraged to do so.

However, Isak isn't ready to give up on a transfer and has declared he won't play for Newcastle again, no matter how the situation unfolds in the coming weeks. This stance could lead to the 25-year-old being penalised.

Despite the ongoing standoff, the former Real Sociedad star continues to receive his weekly wages of £140,000. No fine has been imposed yet, despite his declaration that he won't play for the club.

Alexander Isak is trying to force a transfer. (Image: Getty)

According to the Daily Mail, Newcastle's position will change once Isak misses a competitive match, at which point disciplinary action will be taken. The Magpies are set to kick off their Premier League campaign with a trip to Aston Villa.

Isak's position is said to be steadfast, with concerns that any softening of his stance would only give Newcastle hope of a resolution and scupper any chance of a transfer.

Despite edging closer to signing Yoane Wisse, the St James' Park outfit have yet to find an adequate replacement for their main striker.

Howe has admitted that the current predicament has thrown a spanner in his squad's pre-season preparations. "I think morale was certainly affected early on during pre-season," he confessed.

"There was nothing I could do to affect that - it was always going to be there. When you have a player that good who is not part of your group, it's difficult for the players to fully understand it and to know what's going on and how to react.

"But, as time has gone on, there has been an acceptance that this is the squad and we have got to make the best of the situation. That's always been my train of thought.

"Whatever situation you're in, you have got to find a way and you can only control what you can control. We have moved forward and I've got to say the atmosphere of the group has been very good in the last couple of weeks."

- Alex Turk

ARSENAL TRANSFER NEWS: BENJAMIN SESKO BOOST AS SIGNING DRAWS NEAR AND TARGET RE-EMERGES

Arsenal are looking to strengthen their attacking department ahead of the 2024/25 campaign, with RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko the top target for the Gunners

Benjamin Sesko has admirers at Arsenal(Image: Getty Images)

Another day, another round of transfer talk about strikers as Arsenal's current squad enjoy their holidays before getting down to serious business.

Mikel Arteta is set to fix his centre forward woes this summer as he bids to go one step further after three successive second-placed finishes in the Premier League. Benjamin Sesko, Viktor Gyokeres and Ollie Watkins have all been discussed as forward targets.

A stalemate appears to have developed surrounding Swedish hotshot Gyokeres, with Sporting Lisbon playing hardball for their star player. This has sparked renewed whispers about a potential swoop for Aston Villa's Watkins, who was on the radar back in January,, reports the Mirror.

A deal for RB Leipzig's Sesko might be inching closer following reports that the Bundesliga side are in discussions to sign striker Romulo from Turkish outfit Goztepe.

Leipzig won't let their main man go until they've got a replacement sorted and a deal for Sesko could set the Gunners back a cool £65m.

The situation with Gyokeres is still up in the air, with Sporting sticking to their guns that any bids around the £60m mark touted by his reps will be swiftly binned.

Sporting maintain they've not had any offers yet and the friction between the club's top brass and their leading scorer looks set to drag out into a long-winded saga... unless a club steps up with a hefty offer straight off the bat.

That pause has now turned the attention to Premier League-proven Watkins, who will hit the big 3-0 next season, with speculation ratcheting up several notches.

Arsenal made a clear overture to snag him back in January, but the Midlands outfit weren't tempted by the Gunners' proposal since the money wasn't right.

Lewis-Skelly update

Myles Lewis-Skelly is one of Arsenal's brightest young talents(Image: undefined via Getty Images)

Real Madrid whispers about prising academy gem Myles Lewis-Skelly away from the Emirates, with a single year left on the latter's deal, haven't given the Gunners' hierarchy any concern, with an insider noting the North London giants remain "very calm".

Transfer sagas with Real's name in it demand a pinch of caution; the hullabaloo about another Three Lions full-back with a dwindling contract possibly trading England for the Spanish giants seems, on cue, to have set tongues a-wagging.

And it's been fuelled no doubt by the cautionary Trent Alexander-Arnold tale of Liverpool losing their homegrown superstar with a wand of a right foot to the La Liga giants for a paltry £10m fee after he let his deal run out at Anfield.

- Alan Smith & Neil Docking 

KYLIAN MBAPPÉ: PROJECTORS DROP REPORTED RAPE INVESTIGATION

Swedish prosecutors on Thursday dropped a rape investigation that was launched in connection with football star Kylian Mbappé's visit to Stockholm in October.

ESPN had previously reported that Mbappé's representatives said the allegations of rape were "totally false" and "a slanderous rumour."

In a statement, lead investigator Marina Chirakova said there was not enough evidence to continue the investigation, which centered on an incident at a hotel in the Swedish capital.

"During the course of the investigation, there has been a designated person suspected on reasonable grounds of rape and two cases of sexual assault, but my assessment is that the evidence is not sufficient to proceed and the investigation is therefore closed," Chirakova said. "The designated person has not been notified of suspicion of a crime."

A rape investigation against Kylian Mbappé has been dropped. Dennis Agyeman/Europa Press via Getty Images

Prosecutors never publicly named the suspect in the investigation, but many Swedish media reported that it was Real Madrid striker Mbappé, who visited Stockholm in October during a break in the Spanish league.

At the time Mbappé's legal team dismissed those reports as false.

Mbappe's lawyer Marie-Alix Canu-Bernard and the player's representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comments on Thursday.

- Associated Press

SWEDISH PLAYERS ALEXANDER ISAK & ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC ARE MAKING A STATEMENT IN THE ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE