Tuesday’s positive at NUFC – Our most important player ready to hit the ground running?

As we continue to count down to the new season, we still wait for news about further incomings. Nothing is easy at St James' Park. Yesterday, we spoke about how important Nick Pope's return will be and why it is a reason to be positive about the upcoming campaign.

Our second reason to be positive is Alexander Isak's continued progression at the club. There were some rumours about his future, but it never felt like a serious possibility that he could leave the club this summer. He is arguably our most important player and after a good pre-season, he will be ready to hit the ground running.

The Swedish international already has 31 Premier League goals to his name after two seasons in England. Isak averages a goal every 122.4 minutes in the Premier League. If you include assists, his average for each goal involvement is an even better 111.6 minutes.

During this period, Isak has been getting used to the physicality of the league and dealing with injuries, which has prevented him from finding fluency in his performances. That was until the start of 2024. Since the turn of the year, he has avoided serious injury and managed to build momentum in our attack.

In 2024, Isak has contributed 13 goals and two assists across 16 Premier League matches, averaging a goal involvement every 86.9 minutes. These are elite numbers and a continuation of this form will put him in the running for individual awards this season.

There was a groin injury picked up against Aston Villa in January that saw Isak miss three matches. Once he recovered, he managed to stay fit for the rest of the campaign. For a period between March and May, the striker played 90 minutes in seven successive matches. There was some management of minutes in the final few matches, but this shows that Isak can stay fit and thrive in Eddie Howe's system.

If Isak manages to steer clear of serious injury, he could be set for a groundbreaking season. Considering he scored 21 goals in the Premier League when he played just 2266 minutes, he is well placed to push towards the 30 goal mark.

It goes without saying if Isak is available for the majority of games, that could be pivotal in our aims of returning to the Champions League.

Stats taken from transfermarkt