The Yoane Wissa to Newcastle United transfer drama is turning messier by the day, resembling Alexander Isak’s links to Liverpool.

With Wissa leaving Brentford’s pre-season camp in Portugal to return to London for urgent talks with sporting director Phil Giles, the 28-year-old has since been training separately after making clear he wants out this summer.

Wissa believes that a verbal promise made to him last season is not being respected after being told he would be allowed to leave in this transfer window.

As Yoane Wissa nears his 29th birthday next month, he feels that sealing a move to Newcastle United now could be his final shot at joining a Champions League side.

Earlier this summer, it appeared Brentford coach Keith Andrews understood Wissa’s position and was open to letting him depart, but he has now reversed course, telling TalkSPORT that he believes Wissa owes him.

“I worked extremely hard with him last season to help find goals. Seven of his 19 goals came from set plays. Honestly, he owes me, so he really shouldn’t be going anywhere!”

It strongly appears that the board have instructed Andrews to adopt a firmer stance in order to raise Wissa’s valuation and make Newcastle’s pursuit far more difficult.

As we’ve already said, we can’t blame them. They don’t want to lose him, so they’re entitled to demand the price they consider right. It’s now up to Newcastle to try and bring that figure down to something acceptable.

That will be tough, given how obvious it is publicly that Newcastle are desperate for a new striker.

The situation is sour, especially after Wissa recently deleted all Brentford content from his Instagram. His reputation at Brentford is damaged, and he’s not exactly impressing Newcastle fans who are watching the same drama unfold with their own forward.