Journalist Ross Gregory has admitted he has concerns over Newcastle United record signing Alexander Isak’s slow return from injury.
Isak certainly hit the ground running at Newcastle, scoring twice in his first three games.
He could have made it three in three had he scored a huge one-on-one chance against Crystal Palace, but he’s since been hit with a major bump in the road.
Since scoring an equaliser against Bournemouth back in September, Isak hasn’t kicked a ball for the Magpies after picking up an injury while away with Sweden – and has not featured at all out in Saudi Arabia.
Speaking on the NUFC Matters YouTube channel, Gregory is certainly concerned about how slow Isak’s progress returning from injury has been.
He said: “The fact that he didn’t play in the friendly and did some training off by himself still, it’s just a little bit of a concern that it hasn’t cleared up quite as quickly as possible.
“The way Eddie Howe was speaking, it was along the lines of he might not be fit for Bournemouth, he might not be fit for the Leicester game on Boxing Day.
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“I think they are going to ease him back in very, very slowly and make sure that he is absolutely 100% right, but there’s obviously something there that’s not quite progressed as well as what they’d hoped to, because it has a long spell that he’s been out, now.”
TIF Thoughts on Isak’s injury…
It had been reported that Isak was set to make his return back in October before he pulled up in training with the same injury that he sustained with his national side.
Isak travelled with the squad to Saudi Arabia for their mid-season training camp but missed sessions and played no part in their win out in the Middle East, which will have been disappointing for fans and Eddie Howe.
Given the amount of money Newcastle have shelled out on Isak – a club-record fee – they will have hoped for more of a return on their investment at this point, but the club must ensure he’s not rushed back as it could only hamper him in the long term.