Nick Woltemade arrives on Tyneside as Newcastle consider Alexander Isak exit

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has insisted the club will not make any more “poor” decisions as Nick Woltemade’s impending arrival potentially opens the door to Alexander Isak’s departure.

The 23-year-old Germany international was on Tyneside on Friday with a view to completing a club record £65million switch from VfB Stuttgart as sources in Merseyside indicated Liverpool were ready to make an improved offer for Isak after their initial £110m bid was rejected out of hand.

Head coach Howe hinted for the first time that he might reluctantly be open to allowing the Sweden international to go despite his preference to retain his services, because of both the impact a sale would have on Newcastle’s profitability and sustainability calculations and the player’s conduct in recent weeks.

Asked if he had a preference over Isak’s situation, the 47-year-old, who has been largely diplomatic but grown increasingly frustrated, said: “Of course I would have a preference, but ultimately you have got to look at all the information.

“Of course I have a footballing preference, but then you have to take everything else into account. You can’t just be oblivious to things that have happened so I’m in that position, really, where I’m trying to separate myself because I have no control over it.

“I will let everything take its course and then deal with the eventuality.

“I don’t think you can be emotionally involved. If you’re emotionally involved, you’re going to make a bad decision.”

The finances of the Isak saga are significant. Last summer, Newcastle were forced to sell Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh in order to avoid a points deduction, and a sizeable return on their £63m investment in Isak would ease any PSR concerns and leave them in a strong position to add a second frontman – they have been chasing Brentford’s Yoane Wissa for several weeks – before the transfer window closes on Monday night.

Howe said: “I’ve said many times we don’t want to be in a position where we are having to make poor decisions – which we had to do, well-documented, previously – off the back of the decisions we’ve made trying to improve the squad, as we are now.

“PSR continues to influence everything we do, but we don’t want to be chasing a big deficit because that will have big negative consequences if we are in that position again.”

Howe remained coy over the club’s pursuit of Woltemade, the leading scorer at this summer’s European Under-21s Championship in which Germany finished as runners-up to England, but confirmed progress had been made, although perhaps not quickly enough for him to figure in Saturday’s Premier League trip to Leeds.

He said: “Things are moving and developing in a good way at the moment. Until things are done, I can’t confirm anything, but fingers crossed.”

Newcastle’s reluctance to allow Isak to leave is a reflection of the improvement he has made since his arrival from Real Sociedad during the summer of 2022, but Howe, who revealed the injuries suffered by Sandro Tonali and Joelinton against Liverpool on Monday evening were not as serious as first feared, is confident he and his coaches could do the same with Woltemade.

He said: “Without talking about the individual player, because that’s not right, we believe in our ability to try to coach players, help players maximise their ability and take their game to the next level.”