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Isak to miss start of Premier League season for Newcastle amid uncertainty over future

Isak to miss start of Premier League season for Newcastle amid uncertainty over future
Alexander Isak, who joined Newcastle in 2022 from Real Sociedad, netted 23 goals in the Premier League last season. (AP)
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Updated 15 August 2025

Isak to miss start of Premier League season for Newcastle amid uncertainty over future

Isak to miss start of Premier League season for Newcastle amid uncertainty over future
  • Alexander Isak was the subject of a bid from Liverpool during the offseason and has been training away from the Newcastle squad

NEWCASTLE, England: Alexander Isak remains unavailable for selection for Newcastle heading into the start of the Premier League season amid ongoing uncertainty over the Sweden striker’s future at the club.

Isak was the subject of a bid from Liverpool during the offseason and has been training away from the Newcastle squad, having indicated he wanted to explore his options.

“Alex’s situation has been unchanged for a while,” Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said Friday, a day before the team’s league opener at Aston Villa, “and that will continue to be the case.”

Howe wouldn’t discuss whether he has asked Isak to play against Villa, saying those conversations needed to stay private.

He did say, however, that the offseason has been challenging given the absence of the team’s star striker.

“Certainly early preseason, I haven’t shied away from saying that was a difficult period for the players, for us, because any change is always difficult to react to,” Howe said. “You can see that this summer in our early preseason performances.

“But I think the players are really strong mentally, they are a really tight group, they have really come together in the latter stages of preseason.”

Howe said his players know the situation is “not ideal” but “they realize, without Alex, everyone is going to have to step up and give more.”

Isak, who joined Newcastle in 2022 from Real Sociedad, netted 23 goals in the Premier League last season, placing him second in the scoring chart behind Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.

Newcastle is close to signing midfielder Jacob Ramsey from Villa but Howe said the player wouldn’t be involved in the game on Saturday.


Battling Barcelona earn 3-3 draw in thriller against Brugge

Battling Barcelona earn 3-3 draw in thriller against Brugge
Updated 06 November 2025

Battling Barcelona earn 3-3 draw in thriller against Brugge

Battling Barcelona earn 3-3 draw in thriller against Brugge
  • Barcelona found their equalizer in the 77th minute when Yamal lifted a cross into the box and defender Seys headed the ball into his own net when trying to clear

BRUGES, Belgium: Barcelona fought back three times to snatch a 3-3 draw at Club Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday, equalising for the final time late in the game with an own goal from 20-year-old Belgium defender Joaquin Seys.
Barcelona are now 11th in the standings on seven points from four matches while Club Brugge sit 22nd on four points, with both teams still in the hunt for qualification.
In a thriller at Brugge’s Jan Breydel Stadium, the home side opened the scoring through Nicolo Tresoldi in the sixth minute, after a quick counter by Carlos Forbs that exposed the vulnerability of Barcelona’s high defense.
The 21-year-old jet-heeled Portuguese forward controlled a long ball in his stride to beat the offside trap up the right channel before bursting into the box and crossing low for Tresoldi to score with a tidy finish past the goalkeeper.
Barcelona hit right back with Ferran Torres from close range two minutes later but Brugge regained the lead in the 17th minute with Forbs scoring after another quick counter.
In an end-to-end encounter with both sides creating several chances, Jules Kounde struck the crossbar in the 27th minute as Barcelona tried to find the equalizer, while Ferran Torres missed from close range right before the break.

FRANTIC FINALE
Barcelona keeper Wojciech Szczesny made a stunning save early in the second half when Seys entered the penalty box in a counter-attack and struck a bullet shot from close range that the veteran Polish keeper blocked away brilliantly.
Barca defender Eric Garcia almost scored in the 59th minute with a thunderous strike from long range that exploded off the crossbar but it was teenager Lamine Yamal who scored a brilliant individual goal one minute later to level the match again. However, it took Club Brugge only two minutes to get back the lead, with Forbs scoring from another counter-attack, beating Barcelona’s high defense again for the umpteenth time before chipping a tidy finish round Szczesny into the net.
Barcelona found their equalizer in the 77th minute when Yamal lifted a cross into the box and defender Seys headed the ball into his own net when trying to clear.
There was more drama as Brugge thought they had scored the winner in added time through Romeo Vermant, thanks to what looked to have been a massive blunder by Szczesny. But the VAR video review ruled out the goal as the forward fouled the keeper in his effort to recover the ball, helping Barca rescue a point.
“They have created a lot of danger on the counter-attack and we should have done much better everywhere,” a visibly frustrated Ferran Torres told Movistar Plus.
“It seemed like that with two passes they were already in our box. We have to find ways to improve. The team reacted well, we had a lot of chances. But when you’re behind... It’s tough.”