Darren Eales, the Newcastle United chief executive, has accused people of disrespecting the club by constantly talking about their best players leaving and declared they have no intention of selling Alexander Isak in the summer.
As revealed by Telegraph Sport, Newcastle plan to offer the Sweden international a new contract at the end of the season and Eales said they are in constant dialogue with the player’s representatives.
But in a punchy response to a question asking if the board and Newcastle’s Saudi Arabian owners were annoyed by the constant talk of where Isak will move to, Eales declared Newcastle are no longer a feeder club.
Isak has been heavily linked with moves to Arsenal and Liverpool in recent months, while Barcelona and Paris St-Germain have been mentioned as potential destinations.
But with almost three years left on his contract and a desire to extend that deal in the summer, the normally reserved Eales sounded a note of defiance.
“It is part of football [linking players with other clubs],” said Eales, who is expected to stand down as CEO at the end of the season for health reasons.
“You would rather have people talking about players than not, in the sense we know he is a world-class player and he is somebody, obviously, other clubs would covet because he is an incredible player.
“You see it in his all-round game. He is not just a great finisher, some of the things he does... I still think back to his assist at Everton, he has the ability to do that.
“It is part and parcel of the world we live in, but it is frustrating. It is part of what football is, everybody wants to have a story [transfer speculation] and talk about it.
“But when you think about the growth of Newcastle, we have the ambition to be a top club. There is a sense of annoyance as we are almost seen as the next category down and it is fair game to talk about our players.
“But we are striving, as a club, to be at the top table and we want our best players here. And to be honest it shows the value Isak has that they talk about him all the time.”
Having sold Lloyd Kelly and Miguel Almiron in January for a combined total of just under £30 million, Newcastle are planning an ambitious summer of recruitment and are under no pressure to sell anyone.
An asking price of more than £150 million was put on Isak’s head in the winter window, which scared off any potential buyers and that price will not come down in the summer, even if the striker does not sign a contract extension.
“We’re in a [strong financial] position now,” Eales added. “We were able to move a couple of players in January that weren’t really impacting on minutes on the pitch.
“We’ve got that wish and desire to keep our key players, they’re all under long-term contracts. So, from that perspective, we have no intention at all of those players being moved on, and we’re not under the gun or anything like that.
“We’ve got an ownership that is ambitious, wants the best for the club. So from that perspective, it’d be crazy for us to consider it [selling our best players].”
Asked specifically about new contract talks with Isak, Eales replied: “We’re going to be clear – he has multiple years left so all of these things, we will have the discussions in terms of a new deal just like we did with, whether it’s Joelinton, Bruno [Guimaraes] or Anthony Gordon. That’s something that we will approach in the summer.”
What Eales said on the big issues facing Newcastle
Progress on new stadium
Eales: “It’s a huge decision for the club, something we’ve spoken about being a once-in-a-generation decision. This is an opportunity and the ownership is very much looking to make this investment. We have to find some way to increase that capacity of the stadium, whether that’s a new build or a refurbishment of St James’ Park.”
What we know
As revealed by Telegraph Sport last month, the preferred option of the board is for the club to build a new 68,000 capacity stadium on an overlapping footprint, adjacent to where St James’ Park is now. Crucially, when asked if that was the direction of travel, Eales did not deny that was the case. There will be some frustration at the lack of tangible progress, although the fact the Public Investment Fund is willing to make the investment is encouraging, given the new stadium will cost about £1.5 billion. Expanding St James’ Park will cost about £800 million. The club, though, said a decision was “imminent” four months ago. That has now been changed to “near future”.
New training ground
Eales: “We are still making ongoing investments in the short term to our current spot. [But] we are looking to the medium term for a new training ground.”
What we know
Work was, at one stage, so advanced that surveys were carried out and club officials were taken to look at the site. A second option is to build on land next to Newcastle airport. It seems like we are still several years away from seeing spades in the ground.
Summer transfers
Eales: “We’re in a good place. We’re pleased with the business we did in January in terms of our transfer outgoings. Being quite open, that’s something in the past that’s been challenging for us in terms of making those player transfers out. That was good for us in terms of that window. [Sporting director] Paul [Mitchell] and his team have had a period of time now working with Eddie as well because, ultimately, it’s about getting the players that Eddie wants in his position so there’s real alignment in that respect so we’re excited about the summer ahead.”
What we know
Newcastle want to sign a goalkeeper, a right-sided forward, a centre-back and a striker in the summer. They will also look to trim high earners, such as Kieran Trippier and Callum Wilson, off the wage bill and could also sell midfielder Sean Longstaff and other squad players to raise their spending power further.
PIF’s commitment to the club
Eales: “From my perspective, and I deal with them day to day, they are 100 per cent committed to Newcastle. That’s the exciting part, there is no change in terms of where we want to get to. Ultimately we want to be winning the Premier League – but we have to do it within the constraints of what we have.”
What we know
Newcastle United’s revenue is growing, £320.3 million, up from £250.3 million the previous financial year, but they are still a long way behind the six richest clubs in the country. It was stressed at the recent board meeting with chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan that accelerating commercial growth is a key target over the next 12 months, and more sponsorship deals are needed. They are, however, unlikely to come from an influx of companies related to PIF or Saudi Arabia.
