'He's very close': Gary Lineker now explains his decision to agree with Danny Murphy regarding whether Alexander Isak is 'world-class'

We, like many Newcastle United fans, got a bit annoyed by Danny Murphy and Gary Lineker's claims that Alexander Isak is not a 'world-class' player on Match of the Day.

Alan Shearer made a point that Alexander Isak is one of three 'world-class' forwards in the Premier League alongside Erling Haaland and Mohammed Salah, but Dour Murphy chimed in saying that Isak needs to perform at this level for longer to be counted as 'world-class' with Gary Lineker agreeing.

As people who have watched Isak closely since he arrived at Newcastle - remember his debut when he tore Liverpool a new one but was denied by VAR's 360p resolution screens? - we've known of his class since day one.

Gary Lineker was asked again on The Rest Is Football podcast if he believes Isak is 'world-class', and with more time on his hands, the crisp botherer gave a fuller explanation which, while we still don't necessarily agree, does make his thinking more palatable.

Gary Lineker has justified his position on Alexander Isak

Lineker stood by the fact that he believes that Isak needs more time performing at these heights to be seen as 'world-class'.

“I think it’s a little bit too early to go that way. I mean his record’s very good. If you said at this moment in time…

“I think 'world-class', right, you’ve got a squad of, let’s say 23 players like you have in a major tournament, would, in a world team, would you get in that squad? And that’s how I kind of try to justify 'world-class'.

“And I suppose, if it was picked tomorrow, you would. He would have a real chance of getting in that squad.

“But the fact that he’s probably not done it consistently enough, only probably because of injuries, I think he needs another season or two of proving that he can score on this kind of basis that he is at present. So I think he’s very close.”

We will forgive Gary Lineker but not Danny Murphy because we're petty

Again, we believe he's been doing it for long enough to be classed as 'world-class', and we absolutely would have him in our 23-man squad, but we concede that not everybody has the same opinion.

Lineker makes a good point about his injuries, and they have certainly played a part in keeping him under the radar, especially as, especially last season, he was rushed back into the side and was playing when he was nowhere near 100% fit.

We'll give Lineker the benefit of the doubt, but Danny Murphy? Not so much.