Following Callum Wilson’s exit and the failure to sign Joao Pedro or Hugo Ekitike, Newcastle have been left alarmingly short up top. Remove Isak and they appear toothless, which is unnerving given his durability will be tested across 2025-26 with the additional demands of Champions League football.

Yes, it was only pre-season and Celtic are much further down the track than Newcastle United in their preparations for the new campaign. The game at Parkhead was their fifth of the season while the Magpies had flown in off the back of an intense week in Austria at a training camp.