47 Howe: Guimaraes and Isak staying
ALEXANDER Isak and Bruno Guimaraes WILL be Newcastle players next season — after Eddie Howe dismissed €250m transfer rumours surrounding his star men.
Isak, with 20 top-flight goals this season, is Arsenal’s top target for the summer window and rated at €130m.
Guimaraes has a €120m release clause that goes live in June for a month and only a handful of clubs could afford him, including champions Manchester City and French giants Paris
St-Germain.
Sell
But boss Howe says it would set Newcastle back into rebuild mode if they lost either and he is planning for both being integral to the Toon next term.
“All my planning is with them in the squad,” he said.
“We don’t want to sell our best players. That is hugely important for us.
“It will knock us back some considerable distance because we would have to start again.
“There is no weakness in the club to say we are going to sell anyone. There is no desire from anyone at the football club to sell our best players.”
Asked if Isak could have his head turned, Howe added: “Judging by Alex’s performances and training and just how he is day to day, I don’t see him thinking about those things.
“It’s business as usual. When you’re in the position that he’s in and he’s scoring goals, you get used to people talking about you.
“We’re just focusing on our future with Alex. We’re focusing on trying to build our team with him in it.
Develop
“We signed him knowing that he was young and we wanted to develop his talents and give him an opportunity to showcase what he could do.
“For me, that was a long-term thing that we started with him, a long-term journey hopefully, and I’ve just seen him flourish this year.”
Isak’s camp will seek talks over a new deal but Howe said: “The beauty of the structure of football clubs now is that it is not my decision.
“I give my views on the player and how important he is to us and what I see for the team.
“The club will do the rest.”
Howe admits some players will leave this summer.
Miguel Almiron could be the first and head to
Saudi Arabia, but Howe would ideally want to keep Callum Wilson, who has a year left on his contract.