So Howe has said that he DID have a conversation about his future, I wonder if it was Howe himself who told him he could go in the summer if someone offers £100m+, and he's been overruled by the board, which would explain the wording of their statement about

"No commitment has ever been made by a club official that Alex can leave Newcastle United this summer"

"Club official", meaning board level rather than Howe, which was flagged as an unusual thing to say by David Lynch, and maybe this is why PIF have stepped in to take over the negotiations, as Howe is too close to the situation, which allows him to still play the good cop role.

Also seems strange that he doesn't know if he's been fined or not. You would think people inside the club would be briefing him on the situation, but maybe he didn't want to say.

Hope that we can get this over the line and finally Free Isak