A few years ago, Bundesliga football club Borussia Dortmund had a great striker talent in its own ranks in the form of Alexander Isak. He now plays in England.
The fans of Rot-Weiss Essen do not have good memories of Alexander Isak. The former Borussia Dortmund striker played for the U23s in the home match against RWE on matchday twelve of the 2018/19 Regionalliga season and scored a hat-trick in the first 28 minutes. The match ended 5:0 for BVB II and there was much discussion after the match because Dortmund used three players from the professional team in Isak, Shinji Kagawa, who scored all five goals, and Sebastian Rode.
The 1.92-metre tall Isak moved from his Swedish youth club AIK Solna to BVB in 2017 as a 17-year-old top talent. However, he failed to make the big breakthrough at Borussia. He only played 13 competitive games for the professionals and was loaned out to the then Dutch first division club Willem II Tilburg in January 2019. Even after his return to the Ruhr area, he was not considered by the eight-time German champions, which is why the club management decided to sell the technically and physically strong striker to Real Sociedad in Spain for 15 million euros.
At the club from the Basque country, Isak was able to realise his full potential and was directly involved in 52 goals (44 goals, eight assists) in 131 games. His strong performances attracted the attention of other clubs and in August 2022, the Swede was sold to Premier League club Newcastle United for an incredible transfer fee of 70 million euros.
There, the 23-year-old got off to a dream start and scored his first goal in his first game for Liverpool FC at the legendary Anfield Road. He also scored in his third outing, converting the penalty against AFC Bournemouth for a 1-1 final score. Three games, two goals – Isak needed no start-up time in the Premier League.
He will have to rest for about five to six more weeks, so he won’t be back before the World Cup break. We hope he will be able to train again when we start our second preparation after the World Cup.
Eddie Howe.
But then came the shock: Sweden’s national striker (37 caps, nine goals) suffered a serious thigh injury during the international trip and has been out since the beginning of October. Speaking ahead of the 4-0 win over Aston Villa last matchday, coach Eddie Howe said of his star striker’s injury: “Our doctors are happy with his current situation, but it is a longer-term injury. He will have to rest for about five to six more weeks, so he won’t be back before the World Cup break. We hope he will be able to train again when we start our second preparation after the World Cup.”
While it is disappointing for all Newcastle fans to know that Isak will definitely not play before the World Cup, there is hope that he could make his comeback at the end of December. His side have been in strong form recently, even without the most valuable player in the squad, and currently sit fourth in the table with 24 points after 13 games.
