'Most talked about thing in world football' - Newcastle's life after Isak

Alexander Isak was still technically a Newcastle United player.

But it did not feel like it as Eddie Howe's side prepared to take on suitors Liverpool at a fiery St James' Park back in August.

This was a night when one Geordie turned up in a Newcastle replica shirt which, at first glance, looked like any other.

From the front at least.

However, on closer inspection, Isak's name and number had been painstakingly scratched off the back.

Bridges had long been burnt after the Swede went on strike in an attempt to force through a move to Anfield as Liverpool supporters repeatedly urged Newcastle to "hand him over" during a dramatic 3-2 win.

Isak went on to complete a British record £125m switch to Liverpool just a few days later.

These sides now meet for the first time since the deal was finally struck.

Isak will be absent once again - after breaking his leg last month - and Howe insisted he has long since "moved on".

But this saga clearly left its mark on the Newcastle head coach.

"I'm not necessarily sure it brought us closer together," he admitted on the eve of his side's trip Merseyside. "I don't think it was that kind of moment, really.

"It was a distraction if I'm honest while we were trying to glue the squad together for the season and trying to impose our culture and how we want to play.

"It was the most talked about thing in world football in that moment so, ideally, we would not have that every summer."

Isak was just one player, of course, but this side had been built around him.

Just as Isak has taken time to adapt to a new environment at Liverpool, following such a disrupted pre-season, Newcastle have also been adjusting to life without the Sweden international.

Such was Isak's importance, he scored 27 goals last season - three times more than Newcastle's next highest goal scorer.

He even netted what proved to be the winning goal in last season's Carabao Cup final as Newcastle ended a 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy following a 2-1 victory against Liverpool.

Isak's place in the club's history was assured at Wembley that evening.

However, for Newcastle season ticket holder Adam Stoker, the manner of his subsequent departure "left a bit of a bad taste in people's mouths".

"When I was in the stands at Wembley, in March, I couldn't have imagined a situation where Isak wasn't going to be a hero for life in Newcastle," he said.

"One day some of the raw emotions might die down, but it was just a horrible summer."

It was certainly turbulent.

Newcastle's attempts to sign strikers Hugo Ekitike, Joao Pedro and Benjamin Sesko all failed before they managed to land Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa for a combined £124m in the final throes of the summer transfer window.

But those inside the club felt it was "impossible" to replace Isak like-for-like because of his lethal skillset.

It was one of the reasons why Howe believed this was always going to be a "new team".

It was not just the goals.

This side had long relied on Isak's movement in behind.

Though Wissa also plays on the shoulder, the 29-year-old suffered a knee injury on international duty with DR Congo, which severely delayed his debut after he pushed to leave Brentford.

The towering Woltemade, who has a very different profile, was left to shoulder the burden from the off, as a result, having never previously played outside Germany.

Woltemade found the back of the net with each of his first six shots on target, but it was hardly sustainable for the forward to keep scoring at such a rate - not least with the number of games he had to play while Wissa was sidelined.

Before Wissa made his full debut, last month, Woltemade started 19 matches for club and country in just 92 days - an unprecedented run for a player whose career only truly took off at Stuttgart little more than a year ago.

The pair have had to adapt quickly to the detail, structure and intensity of life under Howe.

That was challenging enough for fellow forward Anthony Gordon to do when Newcastle had clear weeks to prepare for games following his move from Everton in January 2023.

But the schedule has been particularly relentless as Newcastle fight on four fronts this season, so Woltemade and Wissa have had to rely on individual video analysis sessions.

"It took me a long time to adjust to the way we play when I first came here, so I understand the position that they are in," Gordon said.

"We have got so many games so they are chopping and changing who plays because of the heavy load that we have.

"I do feel for them. It is difficult to adapt to the way that we play but the more I play with them, the more I am getting used to their movements and trying to adapt my game to them the best I can to make them succeed."

These are very different players.

But Wissa has helped ease the physical strain on Woltemade since returning to action, and Howe hailed the pair for "trying to give the team the best that they have".

Howe also acknowledged that Newcastle were still attempting to "get the best" out of them.

It has been a frustration of an especially hands-on coaching staff that they have been unable to extensively drill the forwards on the training pitches.

Isak's former team-mates knew the runs he would make and the Swede, conversely, knew his side's patterns inside, out.

But Woltemade and Wissa are mainly building up an understanding with those around them through matches and vice-versa.

Saturday's trip to Anfield will be the latest step on that journey.

"It's an ever-challenging thing," Howe added. "You lose a player like Alex and, let's put this right, Liverpool paid the money they did because he's an outstanding footballer, an unbelievable talent.

"We were privileged to have him for the years that we had him. We loved working with him. He was an outstanding player.

"When you take that player away from your team, it's going to change the dynamics, that's for sure.

"Then you have to try to find a way of, not replacing him, but finding a player or players who can still make the team really effective. We're still in that moment."