TNT Sports pundit Rio Ferdinand says Arsenal should go “all out” to sign Alexander Isak from Newcastle to fix their problems up front.
The Swedish international scored his 10th league goal of the season in the Magpies’ 3-2 defeat to Manchester City at the weekend and, speaking about the player on his FIVE YouTube channel, Ferdinand said the Gunners would be wise to pursue his signature:
“Alexander Isak was running in behind constantly [against Manchester City], if I’m Arsenal, I’m going all out and buying him.”
Ferdinand did go on to caveat his comments by acknowledging that Mikel Arteta’s side may have difficulty signing Isak this month due to FFP restrictions but he feels that the forward would be a very good addition to the squad.
Arsenal have been interested in Isak previously
The Gunners were one of a number of Premier League clubs who scouted the 24-year-old when he was at Real Sociedad. However, Newcastle were the team that decided to go after him.
They paid £63m to bring the forward to St James’s Park in August 2022. Although there has been speculation that Eddie Howe’s team may need to sell a key player in order to balance the books, Isak’s valuation is still likely to be above what his current club paid for him last year.
He has been compared to Thierry Henry
Ferdinand is not the only pundit who is a massive fan of Isak’s. Newcastle legend Alan Shearer wrote a column for The Athletic last week praising the Swede and he revealed that coaches at his former club have been comparing him to an ex-Arsenal striker:
“I love Isak, not just because of who he plays for or the position he plays in, or his excellent record of 23 goals in 36 starts in all competitions, but because of how he does it. As a kid — he’s still only 24 — he was inevitably compared to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, another Swedish legend, but the comparison they make within Newcastle’s coaching staff is to Thierry Henry. You can see it in that blistering pace, the languid grace, that gorgeous, fluid movement.”
