Alexander Isak

What's his injury record like? Felt like last season he was out injured a lot.
He does seem to get niggles now and then but nothing serious (i think he's only had one really big injury with his thigh), he's not a player that will play every single game but is fit for most of the season.
 
I remember watching a lot of Socieded game at a time they had Isak, Odegaard and Silva. Isak to me looked like the closest thing to Benzema in that he's classy on the ball, the type of center forward that makes his team play well but also has the speed and strength to cause damage in the box and running behind. It was all potential but I'm not surprised he's turning out like this.
 
Think that was it in a nutshell. I remember Arsenal being linked constantly with him for a couple of seasons, he had a proper breakout year in 20/21 then had a poor season in terms of output in 21/22.

He played off the left most of the time at Sociedad and I remember there were debates at the time if he was better as a wide player or through the middle, a bit like the Rashford debates around the same time.

Newcastle took the gamble while other clubs were hesitant to pay a big fee for someone with a mixed output, and that gamble has paid off massively for them.
I thought he was going to sign for Arsenal, as before he joined the Geordies I saw a high-end BMW driving down the Euston Road with the number plate 15AK.
 
Shock that a young player needed time and experience to fulfill their potential.

It's why I have been steadfast in sticking with Jackson through his struggles and dips in form, and why I have been arguing for United fans to do the same with Hojlund. The difference is they're going through their growing pains under a lot of scrutiny at big clubs, while Isak was allowed to grow his game away from spot light. Neither might end up as good as Isak but the potential is there imo for both to be very good when they're 25.
 
Sweden must have some team. Could put a front 3 of him, Gyokeres and Kuluveski out.
 
It's why I have been steadfast in sticking with Jackson through his struggles and dips in form, and why I have been arguing for United fans to do the same with Hojlund. The difference is they're going through their growing pains under a lot of scrutiny at big clubs, while Isak was allowed to grow his game away from spot light. Neither might end up as good as Isak but the potential is there imo for both to be very good when they're 25.

Both may be good enough some day but right now Jackson shows a lot more worth persisting with and looks a lot closer to being ready. He knows how to get himself into positions to have chances. Hojlund looks out of his depth. Either way they should probably both be backups, but Jackson is closer to being good enough currently.
 
It’s not really classic. Rather generic and typical. Sesko is the Isak-adjacent now; similar ability and potential path. These things are common and happen with every generation.

And if he turns out to be average we will all just forget about him and move onto asking why we didn't move heaven and earth for the next player who transitioned from potentially elite to actually elite.

70m is the tip of the iceberg. apparently newcastle had to buy him a house big enough to fit in all the kallax and pax wardrobe furniture that ikea provide. they had to buy volvos for his whole family, and they spend £50 a day on meatballs for him.

:)

Those IKEA meatballs are tasty AF. I don't want to know what goes into them though.
 
Thought he was a few years older than he actually is, like 28 or something.

Perfect age for a big money move this summer to have his peak at a competing club. Think Arsenal (and ourselves) would do well to be in for him. But a) Newcastle won't want to sell him if they intend to be competitive long-term and b) he'll probably cost near 100m if he's available.
 
Not really. By the time Isak joined Newcastle, he had played 107 games (33 goals) in la liga and 14 games (3 goals) in the Europa league.

Goals aside that’s a lot of scout-able footage in a top league.

We signed Hojlund to be our main striker based on 32 games (9goals) in Serie A. Also his first season playing over 30 games in any league.

A classic example of our fanbase looking at a player than has hit a really good patch of form and asking why we didn't in hindsight fork out £70m for him. Sometimes these things work out and sometimes they don't. Hes worked out for Newcastle but that wasn't a sure thing.
 
And if he turns out to be average we will all just forget about him and move onto asking why we didn't move heaven and earth for the next player who transitioned from potentially elite to actually elite.
I don’t know if this is a gripe or you just pointing out the reality?

But yeah, it’s pretty much Highlander-esque in that in the end, there can only be one (but obviously, more likely a few) who get to the promised land and realise their potential. It’s just that the odds shorten a lot when the talent is clear and present with pretty much every action. I think I’m of a different mindset when it comes to young strikers in that productivity isn’t particularly important to me, so when people use that as the measure of success/failure for a young forward, it doesn’t really resonate. What I want to see is oodles of technical ability, ingenuity, difficulty in preventing them from what they are trying to do and things like that. Goals are a bonus at such young ages, but that ability to do what you set out to do is a real marker for the future because that’s about you tightening up aspects of your own game and the outside world has no influence on that.

I want to see a young striker do something impressive and miss the target more than I want to see them score bags of goals that might suggest a purple patch - if the ability is there for them to do impressive things on command and more often than not, I am going to expect [a lot] more from that player in the future, where as the supposed prolific scorer might need more of a deep dive to see if what they are doing is sustainable. I know I have some post about Isak somewhere being rather excited by what I had seen at Sociedad, but no clue where I put it, but I am pretty certain it will be about how he’s doing what he’s doing over goals in and of themselves. I think it’s the sounder marker, and if I were a scout, the kind of thing I would be looking out for when making the call on future success.

As I said, Sesko is more the Isak-adjacent than any young player making a name at the moment. Clubs are just waiting for him to put his game together and then they will go in. Whether he makes it to the very top is unknown, but the technical quality and tools to do so look like they are lined up.
 
Best striker in the world right now I think, and my favorite to watch of what's been a shit generation of striker prospects.

Loved watching this guy even from his Sociedad days, such a rare blend of agility/technique in a frame as long and lanky as that and he's now developed an absolute killer instinct for goal.