Eddie Howe’s message to his Newcastle United players as Alan Shearer contacts Alexander Isak

Eddie Howe wants his Newcastle United players to take inspiration from the club’s past icons as they seek to put down their own hallmark.

Magpies legend Alan Shearer reached out to Alexander Isak following his club-record £58million switch from Real Sociedad last month.

In an exchange of text messages, Shearer wished the Sweden international good luck before congratulating him on his debut goal at Liverpool.

Howe believes his squad and the football club need to embrace icons from the past, with the 44-year-old keen to ensure interaction with the likes of Shearer continues.

Embracing icons is “a very important part of the club’s culture”

“Newcastle’s history is littered with great players, managers and icons of the club,” Howe said.

“I think it’s very important we embrace them and embrace that idea and try and bring them closer, not just to the players but to the club to feel like they can come and see us and to know we want them here and embrace what they did in the past.

“We then want our players to be the next one in line, the next one that everyone looks to and remembers fondly.

“It’s a very important part of the club’s culture. I will certainly be pushing that internally here.”

Isak opened the scoring at Anfield on his Premier League debut before having a second goal narrowly ruled out for offside.

Against Crystal Palace however, the 22-year-old endured a fairly quiet afternoon after missing a one-on-one chance midway through the first-half.

Howe is impressed with what he has seen from Isak and believes he will benefit from further training time, something he didn’t have the luxury of after arriving in the middle of a busy fixture schedule.

Alexander Isak’s two performances so far summed up

Howe said: “Alex has done really well. The Liverpool game, he wasn’t involved a great deal, but the two standout moments were the goals, although one did not count. They showed what he is capable of. 

“The Palace game was a strange one, because I thought his overall performance, compared to Liverpool, was better, but he did not have those moments which caught everyone’s imagination and eye. But I thought he gave glimpses, technically, and linked play very well a couple of times.

“He played one lovely pass for a Joe Willock chance late in the game. I have spoken to him and we have done a lot of work with him during this two-week period to build his fitness levels and his understanding of the team. He has done very well.”

Isak is set to start against Bournemouth with Callum Wilson likely to miss the game as he recovers from a hamstring injury.