Howe's hope is for Isak to be back in the fold

NEWCASTLE United boss Eddie Howe has admitted that the Alexander Isak saga is close to coming to an end - but says his own personal wish is for the Sweden star to resume duties in a black and white shirt.

- By LEE RYDER Chief Newcastle writer [e-mail] @lee_ryder

Howe could not confirm whether Isak had been fined for his no-show at Aston Villa last Saturday, but said he regretted how it had become a war of words via statements between Isak and the club this week.

Isak fired a strongly worded verbal volley, essentially demanding to leave Newcastle, before the club followed up with a late night response on Tuesday evening.

Howe said at yesterday morning’s press call: “He won't be part of the squad this weekend. The club has to act in the best interests of Newcastle United. It will do that in every situation. It looks like it is coming to an end, or it will come to an end pretty quickly.

“I'm disappointed that these things are made public (through statements). They should be face-to-face.

“It's great for you guys (journalists), but it doesn’t reflect well on us or Alex. It was a sad moment for me trying to deal with it.”

Responding to queries on whether he'd be fined, Howe said: “That is a question I don’t know the answer to. I’m not dealing with it. My focus is on the team that we have, all the training that we have to prepare for our game against Liverpool. Someone else is dealing with that.”