Alexander Isak is never far away from the headlines lately, whether it's because he's scored yet another goal for Newcastle United, or if someone has once again tried to force him into Arsenal's squad.
The Swedish superstar is being hailed as the best striker in Europe by many a pundit, and you won't hear any arguments from us on that one.
With success comes speculation, though, and while we're absolutely fine with that, it's been a strange, intense push by the media to link Isak with a move to Arsenal.
Whether it's purely borne out of the Gunners' desperate need for a striker, the similarities between Isak and Thierry Henry or just pure "Big Six" bias, we'll never know for sure, but it's a very real thing that Newcastle fans have had their fill of.
In fact, it's not just Newcastle fans. The Paddy Power X account will often joke about "Arsenal's Alexander Isak" so ubiquitous is the agenda.
However, not everybody sees Arsenal as the best next step for Isak. Manchester United and England legend Paul Scholes believes Isak is destined for bigger things, as he told The Overlap.
“Everyone loves him but I don’t see a possibility of him going to Arsenal. He needs to go bigger and better.
“We’re talking about Real Madrid here. Liverpool need a centre forward. I think Arsenal would be an option, but I think they would be down the list of options.
“I don’t mean that in a bad way, but he’s at Newcastle, a really good team, a brilliant team, but they’re not going to win league titles, that’s the next stage of his career. I think it would be a risk to go to Arsenal and do the same thing. Liverpool have got a much better chance, Man City and Real Madrid the same.
“I think his sights should be higher than Arsenal. He is a player Man United would be looking at, but in the position we’re in now. It’s not going to happen.
“I agree he takes Arsenal to another level; he would be brilliant, and he could possibly get you over the line. But I just think there’s bigger and better in him.”
Even Jamie Carragher was questioning whether Arsenal fans really believe they could land Isak, and while the Arsenal fan in the studio did argue that it's possible, they did concede that it would all depend on whether Newcastle qualify for the Champions League.
We can see where Scholes is coming from, though, with him being 'bigger and better' than Arsenal, but to us, he's 'bigger and better' than everyone. He's just that good, and there's no ceiling on his ability.
The longer we can keep hold of him, the better it is for us, and the more chance we have or breaking into those conversations as one of the so-called 'elite' clubs.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
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29 | 42 | 70 |
2 |
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29 | 29 | 58 |
3 |
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29 | 14 | 54 |
4 |
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29 | 16 | 49 |
5 |
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29 | 15 | 48 |
6 |
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28 | 9 | 47 |
7 |
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29 | 6 | 47 |
8 |
![]() |
29 | 5 | 45 |
9 |
![]() |
29 | -4 | 45 |
10 |
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29 | 12 | 44 |
11 |
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29 | 5 | 41 |
12 |
![]() |
28 | 3 | 39 |
13 |
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29 | -3 | 37 |
14 |
![]() |
29 | 12 | 34 |
15 |
![]() |
29 | -4 | 34 |
16 |
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29 | -16 | 34 |
17 |
![]() |
29 | -18 | 26 |
18 |
![]() |
29 | -34 | 17 |
19 |
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29 | -40 | 17 |
20 |
![]() |
29 | -49 | 9 |