Alexander Isak has had his head turned amid transfer speculation around a potential move to Liverpool this summer.
That’s according to former Newcastle manager Alan Pardew, who has been discussing Isak’s future at the club.
The Swedish striker was left out of the Magpies’ recent friendly defeat to Celtic by manager Eddie Howe.
And Howe went on to reveal that he had actually sent his star man home from Scotland due to ongoing transfer rumours.
Last week, Liverpool informed Newcastle that they were willing to make a bid for Isak, should they change their ‘not-for-sale’ stance.
But the Reds have since gone on to agree a deal to sign Hugo Ekitike from Frankfurt instead, swooping in to hijack Toon’s talks.
It leaves a move for Isak now unlikely, but could the interest from the Premier League champions have unsettled him?
Pardew thinks so.
“Reading between the lines, it looks very much like the player’s affected,” the ex-Newcastle boss said on talkSPORT.
“Eddie made a sensible move and just took it out of the equation…whether he was affected or not, we can speculate about that. What I do know is, is that it was a wise move to take him out of the equation.”
Pardew continued: “When players want to move and they make it fundamentally clear with their actions. It can cause a problem.
“Has Isak’s head been turned? I would say possibly, yes.
“So they’ve now got a battle on there. I think that Eddie’s trying to play it down, but it won’t go away until Liverpool conduct their business.”
That business looks set to be signing Ekitike, and when that is completed, interest in Isak will likely disappear.
But after leaving him out, Howe is going to need to find the right way to bring him back into the fold.
talkSPORT understands that Isak wasn’t planned to participate in the friendly against Celtic, but for the manager to bring up his transfer speculation, it must have been discussed between the two.
It may now present some difficulties ahead of the new season, but Pardew thinks the Newcastle squad won’t be too bothered.
When asked how he’d deal with the situation, he said: “It’s up to you [the manager], you manage the dressing room.
“You have got to call it as you see it. What you find is, when players are being targeted by the bigger clubs, the other players, the senior players usually side with the player.
“Regardless of what the club decide to do, they all want to progress in their career, they all want a bigger contract, a bigger club.”
“The Liverpool thing, I would suggest that the other players aren’t that bothered,” Pardew added.
“They will obviously want him to stay…and they’ll think that one day that could be them, so they want to see the club are treating a player correctly.
“You have to find a fine balance between saying to the player that it’s their duty to play and sitting one out to make it easier for everybody.”
Newcastle head to Asia for their pre-season tour later this week, and Isak is expected to be part of the travelling squad.
His minutes may be limited to start with though, after an extended break over the summer following international duty.
The Magpies will play Arsenal and Tottenham whilst on their tour, with a clash with the Gunners coming on Sunday.
They then kick-start their Premier League season on August 16.
A tough trip to Aston Villa begins the new campaign, and Isak will likely be leading the line, unless there’s a transfer twist.