Newcastle need striker but is there any way back for Isak after chant?

Geordies can make a lot of noise.

They certainly did at Villa Park following Newcastle United's goalless draw on the opening day.

As Eddie Howe and his players walked back to the tunnel, the away end turned their attention to a high-profile absentee for the first time.

Alexander Isak scored what proved to be the decisive goal as Newcastle lifted a first major domestic trophy in 70 years last season. The Swede is one of the best strikers in the world. He even has a chant celebrating his strike in the Wear-Tyne derby.

But Isak remains determined to join Liverpool and the striker has not kicked a ball for the Magpies since May.

Although it takes a lot for Newcastle fans to turn, his legacy has long been tarnished.

As well as calling Isak "greedy" after their side's stalemate against 10-man Aston Villa, the travelling support even came up with a new song for their once beloved frontman.

"We don't care about Isak, he don't care about me," the fans roared as they left the stadium. "All we care about is NUFC."

Isak clearly has a lot of bridges to rebuild if he is to ever represent the club again.

"You've got a guy who's on £100k-a-week-plus not playing, and you've got the normal fan paying £60 to £70 for a ticket every week expecting him to be in the team," Newcastle's all-time leading scorer Alan Shearer told BBC 5 Live. "That is why it hurts them so much.

"There is no loyalty [in football] - clubs look after themselves and players look after themselves, but there's a way of doing things. The way that Alex is doing this at the moment is not the right way.

"Liverpool have got into his agent and to offer £110m is rather belittling when you have midfielders going for £105m. They know they aren't going to get Isak for £110m.

"You've got a guy who played a huge part in one of Newcastle's best seasons ever, winning the club's first trophy for 70 years, qualifying again for the Champions League. Yet with three years left on his contract he says he doesn't want to play here any more."

Newcastle head coach Howe said the away end were "very free" to make their feelings known about the player after the game, but he stressed in the same post-match news conference that the door remains open for Isak to be reintegrated.

He reiterated that it is down to Isak to "decide what he wants to do" as the striker continues to train away from the group.

Howe ideally wants a swift resolution - and understandably so.

There is no doubt Isak's absence overshadowed Newcastle's preparations for the new campaign given his previous importance to the side.

For context, Newcastle failed to score from open play or win any of the four top-flight fixtures that Isak missed last season.

Isak was directly involved in more than 40% of Newcastle's total league goals - scoring 33.8% of them - while no other player on the club's books hit double figures in 2024-25.

Yet this saga appears to have brought a tight-knit group even closer together following the visitors' committed display on Saturday.

"Everyone that stepped on the pitch today showed that they wanted to be here and wanted to play well," Howe said.

"They tried to express their best performance. There was no sign of any psychological weakness in our performance, which is really pleasing.

"It's very easy to allow our standards to drop or our attention to drift for a second but we didn't. To come and minimise them to the chances that they had was a real sign of defensive solidity, which is great.

"I would rather look at the positives, while acknowledging there was a gap in our performance. We didn't take that one chance that we needed to."

And there lies the story of the game. Newcastle had 16 shots on Saturday, but the visitors only mustered three on target.

Anthony Elanga had a huge opportunity inside a couple of minutes after being played through on goal, but the forward's shot was beaten away by Aston Villa goalkeeper Marco Bizot.

Gordon, meanwhile, saw a header sail over the bar before the makeshift striker had an effort from distance pushed behind.

Newcastle may have created those chances in the opening quarter of an hour, but it was as close as the visitors came to scoring - even after Ezri Konsa was sent off midway through the second half.

That is not a slight on Gordon, though, who forced Konsa's red card after the Aston Villa defender pulled the rapid England international back.

It was rather telling that Gordon dropped to the turf in exhaustion as much as frustration at full-time, before Joelinton helped his team-mate up.

But it is not lost on anyone behind the scenes that Newcastle need a striker - irrespective of the Isak situation.

No wonder the club remain interested in signing Brentford star Yoane Wissa.

Goalscorers are always in demand, of course, but Newcastle have faced particularly intense competition this summer.

Newcastle missed out on Benjamin Sesko, Hugo Ekitike and Joao Pedro, who joined Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea respectively.

Howe did not disguise the fact he would "like more strikers to pick from", but securing the right player has proved a real challenge.

"It seems like the striker market gets tighter every year," he said. "Maybe that's because we have continued to grow as a team.

"There's not many players of that calibre to make us better and when they're potentially available the price seems to go up, and then you are dealt other challenges like PSR [profit and sustainability regulations], how much you spend in the window, the long-term effects if you do the transfer.

"It is not as clear as going out and getting any player. They have got to fit the team, make us better and be affordable. That's not a large group of players."

Time will tell if Newcastle manage to find one - and if there is any way back for Isak.