Newcastle United are in advanced talks to sign Real Sociedad forward Alexander Isak. The Magpies have monitored the Swedish international all summer and are set to strike a £58m deal for the forward.
After breaking on to the scene as Allsvenskan's Newcomer of the Year at the age of 17, Chronicle Live has taken a look at how his journey has unfolded over the last six years.
A glittering start
By the age of 17, Isak had hit double figures in his debut season in the Swedish top-flight, turned down European giants Real Madrid, become Sweden’s youngest ever goal scorer and earned a lucrative transfer to Borussia Dortmund.
He was a talent so highly regarded that his former AIK teammate Chinedu Obasi described him as ‘Sweden’s new Zlatan Ibrahimovic’. But within just 18 months in Dortmund, Isak’s stratospheric rise had come to a grinding halt, as many feared that he would become another exciting prospect to fall by the wayside.
READ MORE: Newcastle United in advanced talks to sign Real Sociedad forward Alexander Isak
Escaping regression at Dortmund
Isak played just 13 times for the Black and Yellows and spent the first half of the 2018-19 season playing for their second-team in Germany’s fourth-tier. The time had come to stop resting on his laurels and Isak uprooted to the Dutch city of Tilburg to join Willem II on-loan in search of an answer to his prayers.
The Eredivisie would provide the perfect platform for the Swedish international to remind everyone of his extraordinary qualities. He may have only been in the Netherlands for four months but he left an indelible mark. 14 goals in 18 matches in all competitions, including his first top-flight hat-trick against Fortuna Sittard, underlined his goal scoring credentials, but he showed that he was much more than just a predator in the box.
He could leave defenders for dead with a drop of the shoulder, before embarking on one of his deadly driving runs, and his seven assists illustrated his creativeness in the final third. The time had come for Isak to leave his chapter in Germany behind and if his stint at Willem II was his revival, then his move to Real Sociedad would prove the making of him.
Silverware in Spain
Isak scored nine times in 37 outings during his debut season in La Liga in 2019-20 but his performances in the Copa del Rey would culminate in his only major piece of silverware to date. He scored five goals in four matches as Real Sociedad consigned Becerril, AD Ceuta, Espanyol and CA Osasuna respectively to elimination to set-up a mouth-watering quarter-final tie against Real Madrid.
The Santiago Bernabeu was stunned into silence when Isak scored his second of the evening to propel the visitors into a 3-0 lead before the hour-mark. Although Los Blancos mounted a fightback, Real Sociedad scored four goals at the home of the Spanish giants for the first time in 16 years to progress to the semi-finals.
Real Sociedad defeated CD Mirandes over two legs to reach the final for the first time since 1988 but would have to wait 11 months to face Basque rivals Athletic Club due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They edged a cagey affair 1-0 in a final played behind closed doors as Isak collected the golden boot with seven goals in eight matches.
Isak scored a personal record 17 goals in 34 appearances in La Liga in 2020-21 – finishing sixth in the race for the golden boot in the Spanish top-flight. He also netted his first hat-trick in Spain in a 4-0 win over Alaves to become the first Swedish player to score a La Liga treble since Henry Carlsson did for Atletico Madrid in 1949.
After two seasons at the peak of his powers, Isak’s standards dropped during his third campaign in Spain. He scored just six goals, albeit in a side that scored just 40 goals across 38 matches in La Liga last season, as Real Sociedad finished sixth. He still remains a regular for Sweden, and impressed with his performances at Euro 2020, despite failing to find the net across their four matches.
In total, Isak has scored nine times in 37 outings since making his international bow in 2017.
A new chapter in England?
Nevertheless, his ability to offer an outlet for his team-mates by dropping deep and driving at defences will provide another dimension to Newcastle’s attacking play. He will offer something different from what Newcastle already have, and at the young age of 22, he has plenty of time to develop.
Isak has made steady progression since his difficulties in Dortmund with successful spells in the Netherlands and Spain. The Premier League would be a logical next step for a player looking to fulfil his prophecy of reaching the top.
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