Arsenal, Liverpool & Barcelona offered hope in pursuit of Alexander Isak | OneFootball

Newcastle United chief executive Darren Eales emphatically ruled out a summer transfer for Alexander Isak but a report suggests that the striker's potential salary demands could force through an exit.

Isak has been in blistering form this season. The fleet-footed Swede boasts 22 goals across all competitions and is widely considered to be one of the best strikers on the planet.

This prolific return has unsurprisingly attracted interest from a glut of Europe's elite. A chronically striker-less Arsenal have been long-standing admirers, while Barcelona reportedly view Isak as an ideal successor to Robert Lewandowski. Liverpool have also elbowed their way into the conversation.

However, as far as Newcastle's hierarchy is concerned, any discussion about a summer exit for their talisman is a non-starter. "We're not under the gun to sell any of our key players - it would be crazy to consider it," Eales huffed this week. "They're all under long-term contracts.

"We know he's a world‑class player and others covet him. But it's annoying because it's almost as if we're seen as a club in the next category down and it's fair game to talk about our players leaving."

Alexander Isak is the Premier League's third-top scorer this season / Carl Recine/GettyImages

Isak's current deal stretches to the summer of 2028, but the 25-year-old is thought to be on a £140,000-a-week salary which, as The Times point out, is less than half that commanded by Liverpool's Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland at Manchester City. The report suggests that Newcastle "cannot compete" with a comparable wage to those league-leading figures.

Talks over a new deal for Isak are expected to be conducted over the summer. Newcastle are limited by the Premier League's strict financial regulations - profit and sustainability rules (PSR) - about how much they can offer Isak.

"PSR is really supposed to be about sustainability but it's a system that favours those with bigger revenues," Eales moaned when Newcastle's latest accounts were released. "We could put funds into an extra account that could show we wouldn't go bust but the way the rules are now we have to grow incrementally.

"The fact we’re in our second Carabao Cup final in three years and two points off a Champions League place show we're growing but it's frustrating in the sense that our progress since our takeover [in October 2021] could have been quicker if things were different. PSR in its current form is challenging."

It may also be challenging to hold onto Isak if they cannot meet his wage demands.