Zlatan Ibrahimovic may be Sweden’s long reigning king, but Alexander Isak has become the Blue and Yellow’s much-loved prince.
The Newcastle United forward, constantly labelled as ‘the next Ibra’, has thrived where others have failed. Following in the footsteps of the AC Milan forward has been a task too daunting for many of Ibrahimovic’s successors, but Isak has finally lived up to expectations in his homeland.
His £58million price tag is further illustration of both his current ability and his limitless potential. But had it not been for a phenomenal loan spell at Willem II, then Isak could’ve been the next victim of Sweden’s merciless hunt to find a successor to Ibrahimovic’s throne.
Isak exploded onto the scene in Sweden at the tender age of 17 – hitting double figures in his debut season in the Allsvenskan for AIK Solna. A host of European heavyweights paid close attention to the precocious young forward, including none other than Real Madrid.
But to the astonishment of Los Blancos, who usually have free reign to cherry pick Europe’s ripest talents, Isak chose to reject a lucrative move to the Santiago Bernabeu. He instead opted to join Borussia Dortmund – a club famed for nurturing global names such as Jadon Sancho, Christian Pulisic and Ousmane Dembele, but Isak would not become the next name to shine in the iconic yellow and black strip of Die Borussen.
His career threatened to decline at the Westfalenstadion – both at club and international level. Isak had become Sweden’s youngest ever goal scorer in 2017 but it would be another 26 months until he donned the colours of his country again.
Isak waited in the wings as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang rounded off a season that saw him score an extraordinary 40 goals. Thomas Tuchel and Dembele left Dortmund later that summer and Aubameyang would follow suit in the winter transfer window.
It seemed as if Isak’s time to shine had finally arrived but then his hopes were crushed when Michy Batshuayi arrived on loan from Chelsea. Isak had been plying his trade in the fourth tier with BVB’s second team and played just five times in the Bundesliga. When Paco Alcacer replaced Batshuayi at the start of the following season, Isak's career in Dortmund was as good as over.
His talent was waning but a coincidental sequence of events would lead to his resurrection. Willem II travelled to Dortmund during the winter break in January 2019 to prepare for the return of the Eredivisie. It was an occasion purely designed to get minutes into legs but little did they know that their future star man was awaiting them.
Isak stole the show, scoring twice to guide the Black and Yellows to a 3-2 victory at the Stadion Rote Erde. His performance planted a seed in Willem II sporting director Joris Mathijsen’s mind and he would soon return to offer Isak an escape route.
“We had been thinking about Alexander for a long time,” said Mathijsen in January 2019. “It was a coincidence that we could see him in action against us during the training game.
“Alexander is a big and strong boy, therefore a focal point in the attack but also very goal-orientated.”
Isak was reunited with his former Dortmund teammate Vangelis Pavlidis when he arrived in Tilburg. The pair would initially compete for the centre-forward berth until Pavlidis emerged from the bench to set-up Isak for his first goal for the club against Vitesse in his fourth game.
Thereafter, Willem II boss Adrie Koster deployed Pavlidis on the left of a front-three as the Greek attacker and Isak built a formidable partnership. The Tricolores collected five wins from six games with both Isak and Pavlidis playing an instrumental role in their upsurge in fortunes.
Pavlidis was directly involved in three goals during that run but it was Isak that took centre stage. The Swede became the first player in the club’s history to score nine goals in his first 10 Eredivisie appearances. His goal rout included braces against De Graafschap and Heracles Almelo respectively and a first senior hat-trick at home to Fortuna Sittard.
Willem II missed out on European qualification by just one-point but Isak had left an indelible mark during his short time in Tilburg, while simultaneously resuscitating his career.
A move to La Liga side Real Sociedad followed later that summer and Isak also regained his place in the Sweden squad. After continuing his rise in Spain, Isak now looks braced for his next chapter in the Premier League.
Isak had ended Sweden’s long wait for Ibrahimovic’s replacement but just as he settled into the role, the veteran forward announced his return to the national team. But there would be no fairy tale as Ibrahimovic was ruled out of Euro 2020 due to injury.
The Ibrahimovic comparison had been lifted and Isak is now the next star to lead Sweden into the future.
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