Since the beginning of the 2019/20 season, Alexander Isak has scored 41 non-penalty goals – a tally that leaves him behind just Man City’s Erling Haaland and PSG’s Kylian Mbappe.
Haaland and Mbappe are the only players aged 23 or under who’ve scored more goals from open play that the former Real Sociedad over the past three years; an exciting stat that says a lot about our new record signing.
The Swedish international arrived on Tyneside for a fee worth an initial £58m last month, blowing our previous record of £40m for Joelinton out of the water.
He kicked off his Newcastle career in style with a calm finish at Anfield and would’ve had another had VAR not chalked off his stunning second for a marginal ‘offside.’
If our new number 14 can produce even a fraction of the quality Haaland or Mbappe regularly deliver, the 22-year-old will be a brilliant signing and our star striker for several years to come.
Just a year ago, Isak was coming off the back of a very successful campaign, scoring 17 goals in La Liga, making him the sixth highest scorer in the division while his side again qualified for the Europa League.
While his stats last season may seem somewhat underwhelming, the talent and potential of the 6ft 4 man is off the charts and for years now he has been tipped as one of the most exciting European prospects.
Aren’t statistics a wonderful thing?
You can cherry-pick the ones you want, you can twist them and even more importantly, you can omit the ones that don’t quite prove your point.
For example – scoring only one goal less than Isak last season this international goal scoring record holder scored more goals in the premier league last season than anyone else born in the first week of December in 1991.
The stats are impressive until you figure out I’m talking about Chris Wood.
Isak may have done well 2 seasons ago but we’re more interested in last season – where he was abysmal, and ultimately this season.
I hope he does well but who do you think you’re fooling with your cherry-picked, obscure, meaningless statistics?
Daveys **** mate(Quote)
Cherry-picked? He’s scored 41 goals over the past three seasons and no player under the age of 23 – bar Haaland and Mbappe – has more from open play. Yes, he struggled a bit last season, but he still got 10 goals in all comps.
These are facts and impressive ones at that, so I’m not sure why you feel the need to turn this into a negative, Dave?
Olly Hawkins(Quote)