Why Alexander Isak is in demand, who is interested and can Newcastle keep him?

Newcastle striker Alexander Isak’s rich vein of form has made him one of the hottest properties in European football.

The 25-year-old Sweden international scored his 13th goal of the season in Monday night’s 2-0 win at Manchester United amid continued speculation over his future.

Here, the PA news agency takes a closer look at the Magpies’ £63million record signing.

Stockholm-born Isak, who is of Eritrean heritage, arrived at St James’ Park in August 2022 as a 22-year-old, but with a wealth of experience already under his belt.

He began his professional career at AIK Solna and has brief spells with Borussia Dortmund in Germany and Willem II in the Netherlands before making his name in Spain with Real Sociedad, for whom he scored 16 and 17 goals respectively in his first two seasons.

Significant. After an injury-hit first campaign during which he nevertheless played his part in Newcastle’s fourth-place finish, Isak became the first man to break the 20-goal barrier in a Premier League season for the Magpies since Alan Shearer, finishing 2023-24 with 25 in all competitions.

After a slow start, he has continued in much the same vein this term, leading the line with a potent combination of pace, intelligent movement, deft skill and devastating finishing.

Little short of blistering. A return of one goal from his first seven games of the campaign reflected both Isak’s struggle to hit the ground running and a more general malaise as Newcastle stuttered through the opening weeks of the season.

However, since he found his groove, he has never looked back, He has scored 12 goals in 13 games in all competitions and 11 in as many league outings, including a first hat-trick for the club in a 4-0 win at Ipswich on December 21.

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