When speaking of his decision to omit Isak from the squad to travel to Parkhead at the weekend, Howe also insisted there was confidence the forward would be at St James’ Park for the start of the season.

“It was my decision. I decided to send him home due to the speculation around him,” Howe said. “I have never had any issue with him other than seeing him express his talent and express himself. Certainly I am confident that he is going to be here at the start of the season.”

Newcastle were attempting to sign Ekitike to support Isak – rather than replace him – as they prepared to return to the Champions League. However, once Newcastle made it clear they did not want to do business on Isak, Liverpool switched their attentions to Ekitike.

Newcastle’s valuation of Isak is more than the record fee that a Premier League club have paid for a player, the £106m that Chelsea handed Benfica for Enzo Fernández. Liverpool could end up paying Bayer Leverkusen £116m for summer recruit Florian Wirtz, although £16m of that is performance-related add-ons.

Newcastle paid Real Sociedad £63m for Isak in 2022. Should they sell him for £150m, it would be the biggest deal in British football, surpassing Philippe Coutinho’s move to Barcelona, which was worth an overall £142m.

Where could Isak go?