Alexander Isak is set to be on the sidelines for Newcastle United's upcoming battle with Everton this Saturday evening.
Having sat out both the 1-1 stalemate against Man City and the Carabao Cup triumph against League Two's Wimbledon due to a toe injury, Isak has also been ruled out of Sweden's UEFA Nations League encounters with Estonia and Slovakia. This indicates the Magpies are not willing to risk their $83.5 million forward for the Goodison Park clash.
The Toon are wary that featuring Isak could prompt the Swedish FA to insist on an independent assessment by their medical team, deciding whether he'd play. However, a positive development is the reported "healthy dialogue" between Newcastle and the Swedish FA, suggesting Isak will likely remain absent until post-internationals.
- Mohamed Salah: Liverpool 'will break the bank' as decision made on forward
- Liverpool moves to hijack Man Utd's transfer plans with shock $93 million swoop
Manager Eddie Howe dropped a hint about this situation earlier in the week, elaborating that Isak's play-time hinged on pain management. On Monday, Howe shared, "It was one of those situations where, if Alex could tolerate the pain, he would be fine."
"He tolerated the pain for about 80 minutes (at Fulham) before he became aware of any feeling back in that toe. It was either he'd be out until probably after the international break initially, or he could carry on playing as normal if he could tolerate the feelings and the effects of the injury. He hasn't been able to do that, so we're back to the original diagnosis, I think," reports Chronicle Live.
"We're sort of assessing him on a daily basis because there is a chance he could be fit for Everton if everything falls into place. Of course, then we have a decision to make. Does he play in that game or do we leave him knowing that he'll be OK two weeks afterwards?".
Liverpool.com says: Aleksander Isak is a fine forward and a miss for any team. Thankfully Liverpool has strength in depth where Newcastle doesn't. Just as Diogo Jota misses training with a problem, Darwin Nunez returns. Unless Newcastle can invest to bring in quality cover they will continue to struggle when injuries strike.
