Tag: Alexander Isak

Alexander Isak debased Everton

With defending like this, Everton won’t even be Championship standard next season

With his dazzling and humiliating assist at Goodison Park, Alexander Isak showed Everton exactly where they belong: the Championship.

The Newcastle forward displayed incredible skill to glide past three Everton defenders, who displayed equally incredible ineptitude late in Thursday’s 4-1 win for the Magpies.

Let’s not take away anything from the Swedish international’s run, which was one of the best of the year and ended up giving Jacob Murphy a tap-in.

But this was a laughable effort from an Everton side who now sit in 19th place with just five Premier League games remaining.

Ben Godfrey, Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane all took turns swiping at Isak the way a cat bats at a ball of yarn.

Keane spins around a couple times before basically giving up, and Godfrey‘s final attempt showed textbook bullfighting technique.

This was the denouement of the game for the Toffees and perhaps the moment relegation moved from a looming threat to more of a likelihood. With defending like this, Everton won’t even be Championship standard next season.

Watch Isak’s run vs Everton

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Newcastle obliterate club record in £60m Alexander Isak move

Isak is the one of the most expensive summer additions to the Premier League

Newcastle United added to their attack today, shattering a club record to sign striker Alexander Isak.

Newcastle is said to have spent £60 million to sign the 22-year-old striker from Real Sociedad, breaking the club’s record for a transfer fee by a mere £20 million. The fee is also the fourth-highest fee spent on a player by any club in 2022, only trailing the money behind moves by Aurelién Tchouameni, Darwin Núñez, and Casemiro.

According to data from Transfermarkt, Newcastle has now spent just a hair under $150 million on transfers in this summer window, the fifth-highest total in the Premier League. The club hasn’t sold any players either, so their balance this summer is only lower than Chelsea, who have spent plenty under new owner Todd Boehly, and Nottingham Forest, who have decided to sign everyone that has ever kicked a ball before.

“I’m delighted to have it done. It was a big, big decision for me but it is a decision I am really happy with,” Isak told the Newcastle club site. “It is a great, historical club that I think anyone would like to play for, with amazing fans. They were a big part of why I came here – and also the club’s project, which is one that I really believe in.”

At 6’3″ and having 37 caps for Sweden and 103 appearances in La Liga under his belt at a young age, Isak certainly fits the profile of a modern striker that a club breaks its transfer record to sign. However, Isak is coming off of a 2021-22 season with Real Sociedad in which he scored just six times in 2,157 minutes.

On the other hand, Newcastle probably does need a striker. Callum Wilson, who is currently dealing with a short-term knock, was only available to play 18 games last season, and had just 26 appearances in 2020-21. Chris Wood, meanwhile, has just five goals in 34 appearances over the past two seasons, and Joelinton ended up having to fill in up top numerous times last season.

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