Kieran Trippier opens up about Alexander Isak and hopes he will stay at Newcastle United in new interview
Newcastle United have been adamant that Alexander Isak is not for sale, and chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan is said to be getting involved to make that clear to the player himself.
Liverpool are circling after it became clear that Isak is unsettled at Newcastle, and with the player claiming a thigh injury and not flying out to Asia with the rest of the team, there's growing confidence from the Premier League champions that they could get their man.
We, along with many other Newcastle fans, are coming to terms with the idea that we could be about to lose the best striker we've had since Alan Shearer hung up his boots.
However, Kieran Trippier, who has flirted with a Newcastle exit a few times himself, has now told The Chronicle that he's not panicking and he expects to see Isak back in action with Newcastle when he's fit.
Kieran Trippier insists Isak is injured
Speaking from Asia, Trippier told The Chronicle that Alexander Isak is fully aware that he's only a phone call away from talking things through as he wrestles with what to do next.
"My phone is available 24/7 to Alex - and Alex knows that. He knows I am always there. We are not panicking, Alex has got an injury, and we have to do what we have to here, focus on the games.
"We focus on the team and the players that are here. It's not just Alex; Martin Dubravka wasn't here because of a niggle.
"Yeah, we stick together, I have always said that ever since I arrived at the club, we travel to South Korea and look forward to the game on Wednesday."
"Alex has got a thigh injury - that is the reality.
"Personally, I think there is no point him coming out here if he can't play in any games. He is doing rehab. But we have to do what we have to do with the players we have got, Sean Neave came on and done very well, young kid who has done well. We have tough games coming, but we stick together now as a team, and hopefully Alex will come back when he is fully fit."
Trippier seems to be as in the dark as we are about what's going on
Kieran Trippier has definitely been to the Eddie Howe school of saying words and saying nothing at the same time. While The Chronicle are framing the interview as Trippier offering hope that Isak will stay, it reads to us more like he's just hopeful like the rest of us.
Of course, it was Lee Ryder who spoke to Trippier, so he should have more of an idea of the context and tone of what Trippier said, but there didn't seem to be any real offer of hope there from the skipper.
There's still a lot more to come from this saga, but at this point, we just want it all to come quickly, whichever way it's going to go. It's the not knowing that's worse. We can deal with whatever happens and move on, but right now we're just in limbo, and everyone has a theory.
