Toon to follow exciting transfer blueprint after £59m masterstroke?

Alexander Isak is some player, isn’t he?

I’m still recovering from that finish at Brentford, at which I lay on the floor in the sunny stands for a solid minute contemplating what I’d just seen.

For a 23-year-old who had largely gone under the radar to all but La Liga aficionados, he already looks the complete player. He’s got presence, skill, speed and an excellent footballing brain that always seems one step ahead of our opponents.

He’s so forward-thinking, in fact, that he was a step ahead of his own teammates when we played Palace at home way back in September. £59m is already looking like a bargain given his age, potential and all-around ability.

He’s rightly won plaudits from everyone associated with Newcastle United, and it’s great – if slightly surprising – to see him recognised as the PFA Premier League Fans’ Player of the Month. They’re right to give him the award, but so often players like him at Newcastle go unnoticed by those outside of our favourite fishbowl.

But realistically, Newcastle haven’t had a player this well-rounded in a very long time. A player who can lead an attack from the back and still end up scoring the goal. A player who, tall and lithe, can still go menacingly unnoticed in the box. You could argue his closest competition is Bruno, who can attack, defend, flick absolutely bonkers balls forward for himself and chuck in a crunching tackle.

The exciting thing is that these – along with Botman – are the type of players Howe and our owners are likely targeting.

Botman and Bruno had a lot of hype around them when we signed them, but they were still largely unproven. Isak had hype, but I’d argue to a lesser degree after he arrived on the back of a difficult season in Spain. Either way, they’ve all exploded onto the Premier League scene; if they aren’t already the blueprint for our transfer activity this summer, they definitely should be.

While Manchester City went for big names in their early days of their transformative takeover, we’ve taken a shrewder approach. We haven’t signed nobodies, but we haven’t just gone for the big names. The prima donnas. We’ve gone for those that showed promise; that are young and ambitious enough to buy into our project instead of just joining for a pay cheque.

It begs the question of whether we’ll really go for the likes of Rice and Maddison. Not that I expect either of these to be prima donnas, but they’re established and extremely hyped – I’d argue Rice is a touch overhyped. And with these established Premier League names comes hefty price tags. Do we really want to spend £80-£100 million on a Rice when we could get a couple of Isaks or Brunos for the same money?

We have enough experience and leadership in the squad that we don’t need a stalwart to come in and lead us through Europe. We have Kieran Trippier for that, and Burn, Wilson and Schar as his vocal deputies.

Howe knows how to coach these players and get the best out of them pretty much immediately, and it won’t hurt us in the world of FFP, too.

Colour me excited to see the next Isak, Bruno or Botman this summer.