Alexander Isak St James' Park Newcastle United
St James' Park Newcastle United
In the previous couple of months, Alexander Isak has been one the most in-demand strikers but it seems like the Swedish international will not be up for sale.
In the Premier League, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool had been linked with the Swedish international and outside of England, Barcelona and PSG were also keeping tabs. However, all these sides will now have to look elsewhere because according to David Ornstein, Isak will not leave Newcastle United.
NUFC had set a price tag of around €150 million which already made him a very premium transfer target but now that the Magpies have qualified for the Champions League, they do not need to offload him. According to rumours, Alexander Isak had a gentleman’s agreement with the club to let him leave if they did not qualify for the UCL but now that they have, Isak is happy at St James’ Park.
If not Alexander Isak then what other options are available?
Alexander Isak has been in sensational form this season, scoring 27 goals in all competitions but let’s be honest, no club would have agreed to pay €150 million for the 25-year-old.
Everyone was hoping that if Newcastle failed to qualify for the UCL, they will have to lower their demands and then the striker will be available for around €100 million.
But now that the Magpies have finished in the top-five there’s no urgency to balance their books.
Barcelona and PSG would never agree to pay that sort of money for any centre-forward and at the moment, both of them are looking at Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford who is set to be available for around €50-60 million.
Back in England, Arsenal and Chelsea have already shifted their focus to other centre-forwards like Osimhen, Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres. All three are proper goal-machines who are available for around €75-80 million so there’s no need for either of the two London clubs to spend a crazy sum on Alexander Isak.
Liverpool also need a new striker who will replace Darwin Nunez but Arne Slot’s side are expected to spend around €150 million (possibly a cash-plus-player deal) on Florian Wirtz meaning they will have to go for a budget striker.
Alexander Isak has shown no signs of discontent this season and now that he gets to play in the Champions League, the Swedish international will be more than happy to continue at Newcastle United.
List of centre-forwards who are available for sale:
Victor Osimhen – Napoli – Linked
Viktor Gyokeres – Sporting CP
Benjamin Sesko – RB Leipzig
Jonathan David – Lille
Dusan Vlahovic – Juventus
Darwin Nunez – Liverpool
Liam Delap – Ipswich Town