Yoane Wissa has accused Brentford of reneging on promises to allow him to leave west London this summer as Newcastle waited for Liverpool to bid again for Alexander Isak.
Should either Wissa’s final attempt to force a move to St James’ Park prove effective or Wolves agree to sell their Norway striker Jorgen Strand Larsen to Newcastle, it is building to a frantic final hours before the window’s closure on Monday night.
The arrival of Wissa, Strand Larsen, or another forward on Tyneside would almost certainly trigger Isak’s long mooted transfer to Merseyside, quite possibly for a sum close to the £110m offer Liverpool have on the table.
If, however, Brentford and Wolves keep their strikers, the transfer picture becomes more complicated. Although Newcastle have signed Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart for £70m their manager, Eddie Howe, views the Germany forward as more a No 10 than a nine and still wants a centre forward to replace Isak.
Howe said the 6ft 6in Woltemade has all the attributes his side has lacked in the Swede’s absence so far this season. “Everything that we were probably lacking today, I think he can bring. There will be a period where he has to adapt. It’s always very difficult to come straight into the league. I’ve got really high hopes for him. I just don’t want to add to the pressure that he’s going to be under. But I think he can be a difference-maker.”
Howe has indicated that the Sweden international’s continued refusal to train or play has made the situation untenable and a sale might be best for all parties, but Newcastle’s Saudi Arabian owners may yet demand at least £130m. Should Woltemade prove their sole striker arrival, they would be under no real financial pressure to sell Isak.
Given that £130m may prove too high, Isak’s future has become a game of who blinks first. Much may hinge on Brentford and Wissa.
Like Isak, the striker used Instagram to pressure his club into selling him. “With just hours remaining of the transfer window I feel compelled to make it clear that I want to leave Brentford, “ wrote Wissa, who scored 19 Premier League goals last season but has not played for Keith Andrews’s side this season. “I believe the club are unduly standing in my way despite a series of fair offers throughout the summer.”
Newcastle recently saw a bid worth up to £40m rejected for Wissa. Brentford are now understood to be demanding £65m for a forward who turns 29 in September. Following Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Sunderland, Andrews said he expected the absent striker to still be part of his squad on Tuesday.
“Earlier this summer I held open discussions with the club’s senior management including key directors and the new head coach,” added Wissa. “I made clear my intention to explore a new challenge. During those conversations it was confirmed to me and my representatives that the club would not stand in my way if a reasonable offer was received. That was also put in writing.
“Yet as the window comes to an end the club has now significantly changed its position. The commitment that I could leave this summer has not been fulfilled. I must insist that Brentford keep their word to let me join a new club at a fair price.”
Wissa’s hopes of departing for Tyneside appeared to be damaged on Friday when Brentford’s £45m offer for Borussia Dortmund’s Maximilian Beier was rejected. Newcastle, meanwhile, have also seen two bids for Strand Larsen, the second worth £55m, knocked back by Wolves.
The now unsettled Norway striker missed his side’s 3-2 defeat to Everton on Saturday with a “minor injury”. Afterwards the Wolves manager, Vitor Pereira said: “The information I have is he will stay with us.”
After watching Newcastle draw 0-0 at Leeds on Saturday evening Howe responded to reports in Sweden claiming Isak had already bid farewell to his St James’ teammates. “He hasn’t said goodbye to me, I’ve had no communication with him,” said Newcastle’s manager. “I’ve no knowledge that it didn’t happen but I certainly can’t say it did because that’s the first I’ve heard of it.”
