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Eintracht Frankfurt was reportedly irritated that Newcastle submitted a bid for Hugo Ekitike, despite having no assurances from the player that he wanted to join the North East club.
Newcastle moved for Ekitike at the start of last week, offering $95 million for the France Under-21 star, but Ekitike told Frankfurt manager Dino Toppmoller that he didn't want to join the Magpies.
Frankfurt rejected Newcastle's offer several hours after receiving it on July 15 — which was the same day that Liverpool also informed the Bundesliga club of its interest in signing the player. According to Bild, Ekitike made it clear to Frankfurt that he wanted to join Liverpool, and from that point on he was only ever going to move to Anfield.
Meanwhile, Liverpool continues to be linked with a move for Newcastle striker Alexander Isak.
Despite committing over $100 million to the Ekitike deal, it has been widely reported that Liverpool would still explore a deal for Isak if it were to become clear that Newcastle would entertain selling him.
Isak has not traveled with his Newcastle teammates for the club's pre-season tour of Asia, as speculation surrounding his future continues to linger.
The official word from Newcastle is that Isak misses out with a minor thigh injury, but there is understandable skepticism over that reason after he also missed last weekend's friendly against Celtic.
Announcing its squad for the tour of Asia, Newcastle said: "Eddie Howe has an almost fully-fit squad to choose from, however Alexander Isak misses out with a minor thigh injury."
Newcastle manager Howe confirmed after the game against Celtic in Glasgow that Isak had been left out due to the speculation linking him with a move away from the St. James' Park club.
William Osula led the line for Newcastle in Isak's absence, and Howe was asked about Isak's omission after the game.
“It was my decision [to leave Isak out]," Howe said. "He travelled back to Glasgow with us but I decided to send him home due to the speculation around him.
"The last thing he wanted is to be sat in the stand watching, that wasn’t fair to him. But i’m confident he will be a Newcastle player come the end of the window.”
Howe added: "I've had discussions with him (Isak), but that's not abnormal. I respect a player's career and how short it is. Alex has been really good, he's trained really well and I realise there'll be noise around him.
“I chose to send him home. The last thing Alex wants if he is not playing is to be sat in the stand and under that scrutiny, then if he wasn't going to play today, we mutually agreed he shouldn't be here."
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