'I've heard': Transfer journalist shares what he's been told about Newcastle United's stance on Alexander Isak

Newcastle United have already made it pretty clear they won't be letting Alexander Isak go anywhere this summer, but that's not stopping the rumours.

Indeed, not a day goes by these days that Isak isn't connected to Liverpool by somebody with varying degrees of believability surrounding the story.

Newcastle chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan told the club's hierarchy to resist any bids for Isak in the wake of the Carabao Cup victory, which is something they were likely to do anyway, but now that the chairman has said it, they'd better do it.

The fact is, Alexander Isak is too big a player for Newcastle to even consider letting go. The aim is to build the team around him, not build a team by selling him on.

Newcastle will block any bids for Alexander Isak this summer

Now, transfer specialist Steve Kay, who writes for Anfield Watch, has admitted that Liverpool face a very steep uphill battle if they want to sign Isak, as he said on the KS1 TV podcast.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if those contracts have now been done (at Liverpool), if they had to bring in Isak and pay Newcastle, I’d question if those contracts would’ve been done.

“They’re going to be in the Champions League Newcastle. I’ve heard, I said this, I’m hearing it’s like a Harry Kane situation where they won’t let him go even if he wants to go.

“If they drop out of the Champions League, but even then, I’ve heard that Newcastle are just going to put the block on it.”

Alexander Isak's immediate Newcastle future is not dependent on the Champions League

A lot of the speculation regarding Isak was based on the fact that Newcastle wouldn't be able to keep hold of him if they didn't qualify for the Champions League.

While that's still not guaranteed, Newcastle will be playing in Europe next season, and they have lifted silverware during this campaign, which may well be enough to satiate any wanderlust Isak may have.

However, as Steve Kay said himself, regardless of Champions League qualification, Newcastle will resist any bids for their star striker.