Alexander Isak is the talk of the Toon and the most in-form player in the Premier League right now.
With 13 goals and three assists in his last 10 league outings, only Bournemouth have stopped the 25-year-old from scoring since he limped off early in our 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace back in November.
He’s in the Golden Boot race with 17 goals already – just two off Mo Salah at the top – and we’re all hoping he can fire us back to a Champions League finish over the final four months of the season.
After stating that Alexander Isak was ‘world class’ on Saturday night’s Match of the Day , Alan Shearer asked Gary Lineker and Micah Richards for their thoughts on the in-form Swede during the latest Rest Is Football podcast.
Weighing in on the debate, Lineker said: “I think it’s a little bit too early to go that way. I mean his record’s very good. If you said at this moment in time…
“I think ‘world-class’, right, you’ve got a squad of, let’s say 23 players like you have in a major tournament, would, in a world team, would you get in that squad? And that’s how I kind of try to justify ‘world-class’.
“I suppose, if it was picked tomorrow, you would. He would have a real chance of getting in that squad. But the fact that he’s probably not done it consistently enough, only probably because of injuries, I think he needs another season or two of proving that he can score on this kind of basis that he is at present. So I think he’s very close.”
Shearer responded, feeling he has to be categorised as world class based on his goal tally and all round skillset, feeling he is the only Premier League forward in that top tier category alongside Erling Haaland and Mo Salah:
“He’s been at Newcastle two and a half years now and he’s got near 50 Premier League goals,” Shearer said. “I think that’s a very, very goo record. And I think he’s getting better.
“The one thing that he has to stay clear from is obviously the injuries, but if he plays regular then his ability and the way he carries the ball, the touch and everything…for me, he is playing himself into the category of two of the world class forwards in our league in Salah and Haaland.”
Richards added that there is “no doubt” that Isak is the best all round striker in the Premier League who can do “absolutely everything”, but feels he may need to produce these levels for a period of time at the top level before being considered world class.
Not only did he set a record earlier this month for scoring in EIGHT consecutive league games, our ice-cool striker has been at it again over the weekend.
On Saturday, he became the first Mag to score in five consecutive Premier League away games and he’s now our second top scorer in Premier League history, leapfrogging Callum Wilson and Peter Beardsley with his brace at St. Mary’s.
Last but certainly not least, Isak now has the third highest goal-to-minute ratio in Premier League history, averaging a goal every 115 minutes. Only Erling Haaland (85) and Sergio Aguero (108) can better that.
If that’s not world class, I’m not sure what is!
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