Journalist Craig Hope believes that Newcastle United’s record signing, Alexander Isak, could return from injury before the end of October.
It was a blockbuster move from PIF and Newcastle to bring in the Sweden striker over the summer after Callum Wilson picked up a hamstring injury, as earlier in the transfer window, they had ruled out signing the 23-year-old given his hefty price tag.
Isak managed to hit the ground running at Newcastle with two goals in three starts, only for him to then pick up a thigh injury while away on international duty that appears yet to be fully diagnosed in terms of its severity, according to Hope.
Despite the confusion around Isak’s injury, Hope has claimed on the True Faith podcast that he could still return to action this month.
He said: “Isak’s injury is a thigh injury, which he picked up on the second day of training with Sweden. They don’t think it’s serious, but they hadn’t yet determined quite how serious [it was].
“I think they were waiting for things to settle down or waiting for more results and to see how the boy himself reacted to it when he did a bit of running on the grass.
Can Isak and Wilson play together?
Yes!
No!
“Now, the encouraging thing is he’s not holed up in some oxygen chamber, he actually is out there running with it to see how it reacts, so I would certainly expect to see him back before the end of the month.”
TIF Thoughts on Isak…
Eddie Howe would have been gutted over the international break, as just as he was handed some positive news in terms of Wilson being fit enough to play again, Isak came down with this thigh injury.
This means that the Toon faithful are yet to see how Isak and Wilson will be deployed when both fit, with some thinking the Sweden international could well be moved out to the right wing – although that would mean replacing joint-top goalscorer Miguel Almiron.
Isak will be hoping that he’s back quicker than expected as he will want to be competing with Wilson for that spot through the middle, but also so he’s fresh and has minutes in his legs ahead of a hectic schedule.