Former Newcastle United midfielder Jermaine Jenas suggested there are only three clubs in the whole of world football big enough to tempt Alexander Isak away from St James’ Park.
Newcastle have no plans to sell Isak this summer and Geordie Boot Boys have been told they will instead work on improving his contract, which does not expire until the summer of 2028.
Isak is happy at Newcastle too, although that has not stopped the speculation.
Arsenal and Liverpool are both interested in Isak, but Jenas has spoken out about the constant suggestions that the star striker will be leaving.
Jermaine Jenas speaks as a pundit for TNT Sports ahead of Aston Villa vs Newcastle United.
Photo by Neal Simpson/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Jermaine Jenas says Liverpool, Real Madrid and Barcelona could sign Alexander Isak
Jenas was asked about Isak’s future when appearing as a guest on talkSPORT on Monday.
During the discussion, he suggested that a move to the Gunners would not be a step up right now.
In fact, Jenas is of the belief that only Real Madrid, Barcelona and “potentially” Liverpool could feasibly sign Isak.
“As a football club yes, it’s [Arsenal] a bigger football club than Newcastle,” he said.
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“But in terms of the teams that they’ve both got currently, I think that for him to leave Newcastle…
“If I was Alexander Isak, this phone call needs to come in from Real Madrid, or it needs to come in from Barcelona, or potentially Liverpool currently right now.
“I don’t think there’s any others that would tempt me that much to leave Newcastle.”
Why Alexander Isak’s move to Real Madrid collapsed
Newcastle paid £63million for Isak in 2022, when he had previously been playing for Real Sociedad.
Interestingly, he could have joined Madrid way before he eventually moved to Spain in the summer of 2019.
According to The Guardian in 2017, Isak turned down Los Blancos in favour of a move to German giants Borussia Dortmund.
Alexander Isak looks on during a Premier League game between Newcastle United and Everton.
Photo by George Wood/Getty Images
They signed him as a teenager from Swedish side AIK even despite interest from the Spanish capital.
The report added that Isak and his agents may have looked for Martin Odegaard’s struggles for game time at Madrid not long after he joined from Stromsgodset in 2015.
Not many players have the confidence to reject Madrid, but it has certainly worked out for Isak.
Now one of the best forwards in the world, let’s hope the Spanish giants don’t revisit their interest any time soon…