Newcastle to sign Isak for €75m - Man Utd and Arsenal missing out on elite potential
Robin Bairner
- 24 Aug 2022 14:30 BST
- 10 min read
Newcastle are poised to complete a sensational €75 million deal to sign striker Alexander Isak from Real Sociedad.
The Saudi-owned club have been surprisingly quiet in the summer transfer window, in part due to Financial Fair Play restrictions, but they could be set to land a major blow that would make the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal jealous.
Both of their Premier League rivals have chased Isak in the recent past but have failed to stump up the money that Sociedad wished.
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It has been left to Newcastle to swoop in and secure a deal, which will see a €70m up front payment followed by €5m in bonuses. The news was initially broken by Diario Vasco but has since been corroborated by English sources.
The fee is short of the player's €90m release figure but he is coming off a disappointing season in which he scored only six times in 32 league games.
Nevertheless, the potential of the 22-year-old Sweden international is immense.
How good can Isak become?
Isak ranks in the top five La Liga strikers in each of the last two seasons, according to data analytics experts SciSports. During the 2020/21 campaign, only Karim Benzema and Lionel Messi outperformed him.
Even during his ‘slump’ season last time around, he performed to a formidable standard in each of SciSports’ six offensive disciplines: passing, crossing, dribbling, finishing, ball retention and offensive positioning. He finished in the top third in performance in each of these skills with the exception of ball retention.
Isak v La Liga: Finishing in 2020/21
Meanwhile, he was hindered by being a poacher in a team that was primarily defensively minded. Only Real Madrid and Sevilla conceded fewer goals than Sociedad, whose games produced the second fewest strikes in the whole league.
During the 2020/21 campaign, meanwhile, he was regarded as the best finisher in the whole league as he scored 17 goals to finish sixth in the Pichichi Trophy.
It is Newcastle, then, who have swooped for this inconsistent yet prodigious striker, who has the potential to become one of the best in the Premier League.
