Newcastle United put price tag on Alexander Isak – Report | OneFootball

A new media ‘exclusive’ has reported that Newcastle United have put a price tag on Alexander Isak.

The report from The Telegraph states that their sources have told them that Chelsea are the only club that have ever made any kind of an approach for the United striker.

They say this happened in the summer and once told that any bidding would start at £150m, Chelsea swiftly backed off.

The Telegraph say that Newcastle United had zero interest in selling anyway and that they quoted a figure to the Stamford Bridge club, simply to ensure that it nipped the speculation in the bud. Well, as much as that is possible when it comes to the media with any transfer story.

With Alexander Isak arguably (no arguments from me!) the best striker in the Premier League currently, possibly in Europe/World football, it has been zero surprise to see media speculation continue around the striker. Much of it fuelled by lame journalists, pundits, ex-Arsenal players and others such as Troy Deeney, who are desperate for attention and/or with an anti-Newcastle United agenda.

The Telegraph report states ‘Newcastle sources have stressed they are “relaxed” about the situation and “have no interest in selling” while the player has repeatedly said he is happy on Tyneside.’

They say that £150m+ valuation obviously continues to exist from a Newcastle United perspective and with over three and a half years still remaining on Isak’s current NUFC contract, there is no pressure at all on the club from that perspective. The report adding that it is very likely that this coming summer will see talks between Newcastle United and Alexander Isak on a new extended and enhanced contract, to take him well beyond the three years that will be still left on it at that point.

The world record for a transfer is the £198m PSG paid Barcelona for Neymar.

The biggest transfer fees paid by Premier League clubs are the £100m Man City paid for Grealish, the £105m Arsenal paid out to get Rice, then Chelsea paying a little more than that for each of Caicedo and Fernandez.

The Telegraph add: ‘…a price tag around £150 million is likely to block any potential suitors in January, as well as next summer. That will not stop the speculation and if someone is willing to pay a world record transfer fee, Newcastle could well be forced to accept, given their own PSR constraints. But the message is clear: If you want to sign Isak, you will have to set a British record to get him. There are not many clubs – if any – who can offer that sort of money.’

It is hilarious really, when you have these journalists, pundits, opposition fans and so on, who want to believe that Arsenal could automatically take Alexander Isak, simply by saying they want him and putting £100m or less on the table. Why on earth Newcastle United would be interested in selling their best goalscorer and player, who is arguably the best player in the Premier League, is laughable. Whilst thinking pretty he could be bought for less than pretty average midfielders such as Rice, Fernandez and Caicedo is just another level.

One bizarre part of The Telegraph report though was this…

‘He has also had a difficult time with injuries in the past. They were a feature of his time in Germany and Spain and he has also missed chunks of the season during his time at Newcastle. Isak was scouted by many clubs when he was at Real Sociedad, but one of the main red flags was his inability to play a full season. That is why Newcastle were able to get him in the first place and interested parties may still have misgivings about handing over more than £100 million as a result.’

This seems to be claimed quite often about Alexander Isak allegedly injury prone before coming to Newcastle United but I have never seen any details of this put out there.

He moved at a very young age from Sweden to Borussia Dortmund, he was only 18 when the 2018/19 season kicked off and after playing for the Dortmund reserve side the first half of that season, Alexander Isak went on loan in late January 2019 to Dutch side Willem II, where he played week in week out and scored 13 goals in only 16 league matches.

Dortmund cashed in on the then 19 year old without giving him any real opportunities as they had so many promising young attacking players, taking a reported £8m from Real Sociedad.

Even kicking off that 2019/20 season as only a 19 year old, Alexander Isak played in 37 of the 38 La Liga matches that season, 34 in the next, then 30 in his final full season in Spain.

In actual fact, Alexander Isak was in all 38 of the 38 La Liga matchday squads in 2019/20, 38 of 38 in 2020/21, then 33 of 38 La Liga matchday squads in his final full season before joining Newcastle United. Those 114 La Liga matchday squads over three seasons, Alexander Isak was only missing for five of them and one of those was due to suspension.

Isak had an injury issue very early on at Newcastle United but played 40 times (all competitions) last season for NUFC and has started 16 of 18 Premier League matches this time, only missing two due to a broken toe, whilst also starting three League Cup matches.