Arsenal now ‘reignite interest’ in £63m transfer target who Prem rivals poached

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Arsenal were interested in striker Alexander Isak during his time at Real Sociedad before his move to Newcastle in 2022.

The Swedish forward has excelled at St James’ Park, scoring 23 times in 49 games, and with Arsenal struggling for goals this season, he remains on Mikel Arteta’s radar.

Isak moved to Newcastle after what was a difficult final season for him at Real Sociedad, but his talent was obvious over the years and he is already delivering for them, helping Eddie Howe’s side reach the Champions League with 10 league goals in 22 games in his debut season.

Arsenal signed Gabriel Jesus in the same summer, and whilst he has also been a strong performer for the most part, goalscoring is not his strength and there have been calls for Arteta to add a more natural goalscorer to his squad.

Arsenal retain an interest in Alexander Isak

A report from Football Transfers has now claimed that Arsenal are set to “reignite” their interest in Isak, and whilst a deal in January looks impossible, they could be tempted to test the waters with a bid in the summer.

Arsenal are targeting an elite striker, with Victor Osimhen and Ivan Toney linked, but a deal will have to wait until the summer unless they can make significant sales now.

Isak joined Newcastle for around £63m including add-ons, and given his importance to Howe, he will not come cheaply, as the Magpies would also be very unwilling to sell him within the Premier League.

The 24-year-old still has a lot of room to develop, and it is clear that Newcastle’s initial investment was with the long-term future in mind.

Any Arsenal deal for Alexander Isak looks impossible

It simply appears that there is no viable way for Arsenal to spend the kind of fee it would take to convince Newcastle to part ways with a key player in the next two transfer windows.

If Arsenal were to sign Isak, it would have been in January two years ago, when there was strong interest but Arteta and Edu Gaspar unsuccessfully pursued Dusan Vlahovic instead.

The club elected to sign Jesus over Isak for a lower fee, and despite recent struggles in front of goal, Arsenal arguably made the right decision.

What Jesus lacks in goals, he makes up for with his all-round play to help his teammates. Jesus has notched up 18 goals and 11 assists in 54 Arsenal appearances, a total of 29 goal contributions, whilst Isak has made just three assists in addition to his 23 goals in 49 appearances, with the output records fairly equal.

Jesus helped carry Arsenal to a title race last season despite a mid-season injury, and if another striker is signed, it would be one with a truly elite goalscoring record. A big-money deal for Isak, with a similar record to Jesus in terms of output, seems highly unlikely to even be in consideration.