Arsenal are in the market for a striker and they are set to go all out for Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak.
Alexander Isak has established himself as one of the top centre forwards in Europe. Since signing for Newcastle United he has turned himself into a perfect modern day striker. The Magpies signed him for around $70 million which was actually a club record fee. Has he shown the money’s worth? That’s a question to ask. His goal returns have been decent but only made meagre chances for his teammates. Anyway it is because of the goals he scored that Newcastle United qualified for the Champions League in 2023-24 season. While Newcastle depend highly on his goal scoring abilities, injuries have always been an obstacle to his consistency. Anyway some of the big guns in the Premier League have recognised his talent and made him their top target. Explicitly naming we have Mikel Arteta and Arsenal who are linked with literally every top centre forwards in Europe.
ARSENAL AND THEIR STRIKER PROBLEM
Arsenal currently sit fifth in the Premier League table and 12th in the UEFA Champions League table. A place where they never hoped to sit in November. Even though they started the season as title contenders in both the competitions it is hard to believe that they have already let go of some of their title hopes. A disastrous last four games saw them accumulate only 1 point, which was a draw against Liverpool at home. Just look at the score lines of their matches against Bournemouth, Newcastle United and Internazionale 0-2, 0-1 and 0-1 respectively. This shows the real problem. The defence has been good enough but in the attack they just have a huge hole. No disrespect to the Arsenal attackers as they have all done their jobs well, but they currently lack a proper centre forward.
It is hard to just trust in the form of Gabriel Jesus and the versatility of Kai Havertz. Arteta has structured his team well around a makeshift centre forward in Kai Havertz but they need a bit more quality to turn this best team into a great team. The Gunners have already shown their interest in signing a striker since the last transfer window as they were linked with Victor Osimhen and Viktor Gyokeres. However Alexander Isak would be a perfect fit for the system that Mikel Arteta has built until now.
ALEXANDER ISAK IS PERFECT FOR ARSENAL?
People have a muddled idea regarding the two term striker and a centre forward. So who is a striker and who is a centre forward. The best example for a striker in the current era is Erling Haaland. So you can just understand that a striker is someone who is a fox in the box. He appears at the right place and at the right time to score goals. Whenever Kevin De Bruyne delivers a beauty into the box Haaland is there to finish it off. Victor Osimhen is another example.
On the other hand centre forward is someone who drops back at times, holds the ball up front, dribbles past a few defenders. So a modern day centre forward actually makes chances for their team mates. Alexander Isak is a centre forward in nature with his ability to drop back and make things happen for the team. He can also dribble past a few defenders. We have all watched the assists he made against Everton the previous season.
Football 365 has reported that Mikel Arteta is ‘determined to take Arsenal’s attack to the next level’ and wants the club to sign Swedish international Alexander Isak next year.
So looking at the current Arsenal team and the way they play, bringing in Alexander Isak wouldn’t change much in the team. In Fact it would be easy to integrate him into the team. But the price tag is something we have to talk about. A fee north of 100 million euros would be necessary to convince Newcastle United into selling their star striker. The Magpies consider him as untouchable as they consider him part of the future. Sporting’s Viktor Gyokeres is also an option but the fact that a number of clubs are after him might make Arsenal go all out for Isak in the next window. Anyway a club record deal could only secure the transfer for the Gunners.
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