Tottenham will take on a Newcastle United side without Alexander Isak in South Korea next week after the striker was left out of their tour squad.
Spurs face a friendly double header this weekend against Wycombe Wanderers and Luton Town as new head coach Thomas Frank attempts to get minutes into the legs of the 32 fit and available first team players in his big squad. After those games Tottenham will fly off to begin their summer tour to Asia.
It is a shorter two-game tour this summer which first brings a handful of days in Hong Kong with a match against local rivals Arsenal at the Kai Tak Stadium and then Tottenham will fly on to South Korea where they will take on Eddie Howe’s Newcastle side at the Seoul World Cup Stadium.
While Arsenal will have a bumper squad packed with their new signings, Newcastle will be without their star man Isak after he was left out of their squad to fly to Singapore and South Korea, where they will play Arsenal and a K-League XI before taking on Spurs.
Isak, who has been linked with a move to Liverpool among others, is struggling with a thigh problem, although reportedly the 25-year-old has told Newcastle that he wants to explore a move away.
A Newcastle statement on their tour squad read: “Eddie Howe has an almost fully-fit squad to choose from, however Alexander Isak misses out with a minor thigh injury. Lewis Hall is available following an injury lay-off and could feature in South Korea.”
Isak has caused problems galore for Tottenham over recent seasons and now the likes of Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and newcomers Luka Vuskovic and Kota Takai will not have to deal with the Swedish international during the match in Korea.
The striker did not play a part in the 4-0 defeat at Celtic on Saturday with Howe confirming he was left out of that encounter due to the speculation around him.
“I decided to send him home due to the speculation around him,” he said. “The last thing he wanted is to be sat in the stand watching, that wasn’t fair to him.”
When asked if he could guarantee Newcastle will keep Isak, Howe said: “It is difficult for me to sit here and give 100% clarity on any player. I’d never sit here and do that. It is football and you never know what can happen. All I can say is that Alex is happy at Newcastle, he loves the players and staff, the team.
“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.”
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