Alexander Isak will not be at St James' Park for Newcastle's game against Liverpool on Monday night but the Reds may already be moving on to leave the striker in limbo

However, Howe has not thrown the towel in on keeping Isak and is planning new talks with the Swede once the game against Liverpool is out of the way. The Newcastle head coach is hoping to get Isak back training and then available for their final game - a trip to Elland Road - before the September international break.

Darwin Núñez and Luis Díaz have been offloaded to Al Hilal and Bayern Munich respectively. If it is possible to look beyond the human tragedy of Diogo Jota’s heartbreaking passing, the former striker represents another attacking absence.