By Fernando Valeika de Barros
Less than two hours to close the summer transfer window in European football, on Monday, the Liverpool made a bold offer to incorporate the Swedish center forward Alexander Isaac to your cast. Put 150 million euros on the table, about $ 1 billionand convinced Newcastle leaders, linked to PIF, Saudi Arabia Sovereign Multibillionaire, to accept the sale. Since early European summer, in June, they have played hard to release their striker. They changed their minds in the face of the undeniable proposal. And that’s how Isak became the third most expensive football player in history, behind only Neymar and Kylian Mbappé.
At 25 years old, 1.92 meters high and 77 pounds, Isak has the physical size of a basketball pivot and a curious trajectory. He is the son of a couple of teachers born in Eritreaone of the neediest countries in Africa. In the 1980s, when his parents decided to leave, the country suffered from the War of Independence against Ethiopia, which controlled the region for years. To escape violence and poverty, his father, Teame, got help from Sweden’s embassy and requested asylum to him and his wife.
In 1999, already well adapted, in solnaIn the outskirts of Stockholm, Alexander was born.
At the age of six, with talent for sports, he participated in a selection in the AIKthe local team. Impressed for its technical qualities and, in short, fell in favor of the coach of the base teams, Nahon Ghidey, who had also arrived in Sweden as a refugee of Eritreia.
AIK Prodigy Boy
Ten years later, in 2016, after fame as a dangerous striker in AIK’s children’s and youth teams, Isak made his debut in a match of the Sweden Cupagainst Östersunds. The game started in the reserve and entered fifteen minutes from the end. It was enough to score the goal that consolidated the 2-0 win of his team. At 16 and 199 days, to this day is the youngest player of AIK to puff up networks in a professional game.
In 2017, when Isak’s fame as a scorer – and potential successor of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the attack of the Sweden National TeamIt was already running around Europe, it was sold for 9 million euros (R $ 34 million) to Borussia Dortmund, from Germany, a club known for the patience to deal with young talents. But, as the German team was going through a phase of instability, he had no space.
12 goals in 12 games
It was eventually loaned to Willem II in the Netherlands, not far from Dortmund. And met. In the starting lineup, he helped the club reach the Final of the Holland Cup for the first time since 2005, scoring the equalizer and then the victory penalty against Az Alkmaar in the semifinals. Then he became the first foreign player in the first division of the Netherlands to score 12 goals in his first 12 games in the championship.
Even though he returned to Borussia Dortmund most valued, he continued to have no space in the starting lineup. However, it had already attracted the attention of many. And so it ended up at the Real Sociedad of Spain. In 2019, it was essential in winning the King Cup by the club. He scored 44 goals in 132 games. In August 2022, Newcastle agreed to pay 70 million euros for it ($ 357 million at the time). Again, it was worth betting on the striker: scored 54 goals in 86 matches for Newcastle, since 2022,
SIGA THE FOOTBALL
Facebook
Instagram
Linkedin
Threads
Tik
Considering that since 2021, the Newcastle It is controlled by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF), which acquired the club for £ 300 million ($ 2.2 billion at 2021), it seemed that the career of Isak With the alvinegro team would be long. However, his desire to go to Liverpool and the 150 million euros to buy it spoke louder. Now begins a new phase in the life of the slim and big strike.
Advertising
