‘I don’t like players refusing to play. It’s not a good look, whether it’s Isak or Wissa’

Newcastle legend Alan Shearer speaks to Will Castle about the Magpies’ battle with their Swedish star and accusations of hypocrisy as they try to prise a forward from Brentford

- Will Castle

When Alan Shearer left Blackburn Rovers in 1995 to secure a world-record transfer to his boyhood club, he did not have to go on strike. “I did sign a new contract the year before I left, but I knew the relationship I had with Blackburn that if I ever wanted to leave, then that was the scenario.” He had the word of Rovers owner Jack Walker, and hence when the opportunity to move to Newcastle - or Manchester United - arose, Shearer was allowed to make the jump.

Three decades on, such an amicable exit involving the Magpies and a record transfer fee has not occurred.

Alexander Isak has made his intention to leave Newcastle clear, insisting he has no desire to reintegrate into Eddie Howe’s team as he tries to force a move to Liverpool. The Swede has since refused to train with the team and spoken of “broken promises” over a possible departure in an explosive social media statement.

“It’s different in a way to Alex (Isak) because I was going back to the place I was born,” Shearer tells The Independent, reflecting on his record £15m move to Newcastle in light of the saga of the summer.

Shearer doesn’t know if there is any scope for reconciliation, with either the fans or the club. “In a perfect world - and it’s a big, big if - then yes. It depends on what happens or if he wanted to say sorry or he wanted to come back.” But while the Premier League’s all-time top goalscorer remains hopeful Isak can be reintegrated back into the Newcastle fold, he can only lament the impact his behaviour has had on the club and the players.