“Naturally, I’m not absorbed in the transfer rumours,” said Eddie Howe, the Newcastle manager. “I don’t go on websites and flick through them and see what’s happening this week.

“But obviously it gets back [to me]. And it is a frustration because I don’t see why our players are getting linked here, there and everywhere with other clubs.

“I’d like to think the players are happy here. I’d like to think again that they’re seeing us grow and develop into a team that hopefully can compete at the top end of the division.

“We have no divine right to do that, but I think we’re going in the right direction. So, yeah, it’s a source of frustration.”

To prise either of them away would take ridiculous money, the sort of sums Arsenal spent to poach Declan Rice from West Ham two years ago. So not impossible, but Arsenal have so many areas they need to address in the transfer market, how could they possibly come up with the sort of bid – in excess of £150 million – to tempt Newcastle to sell Isak when it would wipe their entire budget on one player? The asking price for Gordon would be around the £100 million mark too.

While the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability (PSR) rules have successfully stifled Newcastle’s spending power, halting their growth and making the vast wealth of their Saudi Arabian owners largely irrelevant – much to the relief of the rest of English football – it has, conversely, made it far harder for other clubs to steal the elite players they have managed to sign.

Move abroad Isak’s likeliest next step

In addition, Telegraph Sport understands that, when the time comes for Isak to leave – and that day will arrive because he is talented enough to play for one of the world’s most powerful superclubs – Newcastle will try to sell the Sweden international to a foreign club rather than a domestic rival. Think Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain and Barcelona rather than Arsenal or Liverpool.

Newcastle, quite rightly, perceive themselves to be one of the Premier League’s top clubs – trophy winners this season and on the verge of qualifying for the Champions League for the second time in three years – and with that in mind why would they entertain weakening themselves to strengthen a domestic rival? It does not make sense, either from a football, or a business perspective.

However, there is another important factor at play, a question that should really trouble Arsenal’s sense of self-esteem. Why would Gordon or Isak want to leave Newcastle to join a club they have already beaten three times this season, including in the semi-finals of the League Cup, without conceding a goal?