Alexander Isak (; born 21 September 1999) is a Swedish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

and the Sweden national team. Starting off his professional career with

AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...

in 2016, Isak represented

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...

and Willem II before signing with

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

in 2019. In 2022, he signed with Newcastle United for a club record fee. A full Swedish international since 2017, Isak has won 40

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for his national team, and represented the side at

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

. He is the youngest ever goalscorer for both AIK and the Swedish national team.

Early life

Isak was born to Eritrean parents and raised in

Solna Municipality Solna Municipality ( sv, Solna kommun or , ) is a municipality in Stockholm County in Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockholm urban area. Solna is one of t ...

, in central

Stockholm County Stockholm County ( sv, Stockholms län, link=no ) is a county or '' län'' (in Swedish) on the Baltic Sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stockholm ...

. He started playing for the youth team of one of the largest clubs in the area, the

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

team he supports,

, at age six.

Club career

Breakthrough at AIK

Isak made his first-team debut for AIK on 28 February 2016, appearing as a substitute in the 75th minute of the Swedish Cup away match against fourth-tier side Tenhults IF. At age 16, Isak scored a goal in the 6–0 victory. On 7 April 2016, AIK head coach

Andreas Alm Andreas Alm (born 19 June 1973) is a Swedish football coach in charge of Odense Boldklub from June and a former football player. He formerly managed AIK and is also a former player for the club. During his active career he played for the two St ...

included Isak in the starting lineup on matchday 2 of the

in an away fixture against

Östersunds FK Östersunds Fotbollsklubb, commonly known simply as Östersunds FK, Östersund () or (especially locally) ÖFK, is a Swedish professional football club located in Östersund, Sweden and since 2022 play in the Swedish second tier, Superettan. The ...

, alongside fellow young striker Carlos Strandberg. He secured the victory for his side, scoring the second goal in a 2–0 win, thus becoming the youngest scorer for AIK in Allsvenskan history at the age of 16 years and 199 days. On 25 April, Isak scored his first goal at AIK's home ground, Friends Arena, opening the score in a 2–1 victory against

IF Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spent ...

Alexander Isak (training 2016, cropped 1)

On 3 May 2016, Isak signed his first professional contract through the end of the 2018 season, having impressed in his first few games, and establishing himself as a first-team regular. Between matchdays 8 and 9, head coach Alm was sacked, but Isak was confirmed in the lineup by new manager

Rikard Norling Rikard Olof Norling (; born 4 June 1971) is a Swedish football manager. Forced to retire early from his professional playing career due to an injury, Rikard Norling started a coaching career at the age of 22. In his early managerial career, Nor ...

. On 21 September 2016, Isak's 17th birthday, he scored two critical goals in AIK's 3–0 derby win over arch-rivals

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Name The club is named ...

. He was later described by teammate

Chinedu Obasi Chinedu Ogbuke "Edu" Obasi (born 1 June 1986) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward. Club career Lyn Born in Enugu, Nigeria, Obasi started his football career at River Lane Youth Club Enugu and JC Raiders in his homelan ...

as "Sweden's new

Zlatan Ibrahimović Zlatan Ibrahimović (, ; born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the Sweden national team. Ibrahimović is renowned for his acrobatic strikes and volleys, powerful long-range sho ...

Borussia Dortmund

On 23 January 2017, Isak signed for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

club

on a long-term contract, lasting until the summer of 2022. The transfer fee was undisclosed, but reports suggested that it was set at

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

9 million, which would be the highest transfer fee ever paid for an Allsvenskan player at that time. Before signing with Dortmund, Isak reportedly turned down a move to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

. Isak made his first appearance for the club in a 3–0 cup win over

Sportfreunde Lotte VfL Sportfreunde Lotte is a German association football club from Lotte, North Rhine-Westphalia. The football team is part of a sports club with approximately 1400 members and departments for handball, walking, gymnastics, and swimming, as well ...

on 14 March 2017. Isak won his first medal with the club when Dortmund won the 2016–17 DFB-Pokal, only appearing once in the tournament, and not being in the squad for the final. He scored his first competitive goal for Dortmund in a

2017–18 DFB-Pokal The 2017–18 DFB-Pokal was the 75th season of the annual German football cup competition. Sixty-four teams participated in the competition, including all teams from the previous year's Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. The competition began on 1 ...

second round win against 1. FC Magdeburg on 24 October 2017, scoring the second goal in a 5–0 win.

Loan to Willem II

After making no appearances in the 2018–19 Bundesliga season for

, Isak was loaned to Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

club Willem II. On 28 February 2019, he scored the equaliser and the winning penalty against

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and ho ...

in the semi-finals of the

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

, helping Willem II reach the Dutch cup final for the first time since 2005. On 30 March 2019, he became the first player ever to score three penalties in an Eredivisie match, in a 3–2 win against

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; li, Fortuna Zitterd ) is a football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was established through a merger ...

. On 14 April 2019, Isak became the first foreign-born player in the Eredivisie to score 12 goals in his first 12 league games.

Real Sociedad

2019–20 season

On 12 June 2019, Isak signed a five-year deal with

, joining the

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

club on 1 July 2019, in which he scored his first goal in his first game. He strongly continued the pre-season, scoring four goals in five games. Isak scored his first competitive goal for Real Sociedad in a 3–1 La Liga win against

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

on 22 September 2019. On 6 February, Isak scored two goals and made one assist in the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

quarter-final against

. On 9 February, he scored the winning goal in the

Basque derby The Basque derby (in Basque ''Euskal Derbia'', in Spanish ''derbi Vasco'') is the name of the football local derby between Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao. It embodies the inter-city rivalry between Bilbao and Donostia-San Sebastián, capit ...

against

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

. On 3 April 2021, Isak won his first silverware with the club when he started and played in 89 minutes of the

2020 Copa del Rey Final The 2020 Copa del Rey Final was a football match that decided the winner of the 2019–20 Copa del Rey, the 118th edition of Spain's primary football cup (including two seasons where two rival editions were played). The match was played at the E ...

in a 1–0 win against Athletic Bilbao, helping Real Sociedad win the 2019–20 Copa del Rey.

2020–21 season

He scored his first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

for the club on 21 February 2021 in a 4–0

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

win against

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the ...

, becoming the first Swedish player to score a La Liga hat-trick since Henry "Garvis" Carlsson did the same for Atletico Madrid in 1949.

2021–22 season

Isak scored 10 goals in all competitions that season, where Real Sociedad ultimately finished 6th in La Liga.

Newcastle United

2022–23 season

On 26 August 2022, Isak signed for

club

on a six-year contract which runs until June 2028 worth £6,240,000 per year (or £120,000 per week), for an undisclosed fee, reported to be more than $70 million, which would be a club transfer record. On 31 August, he scored a goal on his debut and was named

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

in a 2–1 defeat against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

. Following a 1–1 draw with

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

, where he scored a penalty, Isak was sidelined for 16 competitive matches due to a hamstring injury, he returned to the squad to play the first half in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

third round tie to

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

. On 15 January 2023, he scored his first goal after the injury in the 89th minute in a 1–0 victory over

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

. Isak scored his first brace for Newcastle on 17 March in a 2–1 away victory against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, the second goal being a penalty in stoppage time to win the game. On 23 April, he scored another brace within two minutes in a 6–1 win over

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. Five days later, he dribbled past three Everton defenders to cross the ball, with a deflection off

James Tarkowski James Alan Tarkowski (born 19 November 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Everton. Tarkowski began his professional career at Oldham Athletic of League One, where he made 89 appearances across all ...

, to

Jacob Murphy Jacob Kai Murphy (born 24 February 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Newcastle United. Murphy made his first-team debut for Norwich City in an FA Cup match against Fulham in January 2014 ...

who scored the last goal in a 4–1 away victory, which urged his manager

Eddie Howe Edward John Frank Howe (born 29 November 1977) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the head coach of Premier League club Newcastle United. A defender during his playing career, Howe spent most of his playing ...

to discuss comparisons between him and

Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Considered one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best player ...

2023–24 season

On 12 August 2023, Isak scored a brace in a 5–1 win over

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

in the first match of the season. On 27 September, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

, to be his club's first win against the latter in the last 11 meetings.

International career

Isak played for youth Swedish national teams in the U-16 to U-21 categories. He was called up to the Sweden national team for the friendly matches against

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

on 8 January 2017 and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

on 12 January. He made his debut against the Ivory Coast, coming on for Per Frick in the 62nd minute of a 1–2 loss. He started the second game against Slovakia, scoring the first goal in a 6–0 win in the 19th minute, becoming the youngest goalscorer ever in the history of the Sweden national team. On 23 March 2019, Isak made his first competitive appearance for Sweden, when he replaced

Robin Quaison Robin Kwamina Quaison (, ; born 9 October 1993) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Saudi club Al-Ettifaq and the Sweden national team. Career Born in Stockholm to a Ghanaian father and a Swedish mother, Quaison st ...

in the 88th minute in a

UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2019 to November 2020 to determine the 24 UEFA member men's national teams that advanced to the UEFA Euro 2020 final tournament, played across Europe ...

game against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, which Sweden won 2–1. Isak scored his first competitive goal for Sweden on 7 June 2019, when Sweden beat

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying game at Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. Isak scored the last goal in a 3–0 win. Isak was called up for a major tournament for the first time when he was included in Sweden's 26-man squad for

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first.''

Honours

Borussia Dortmund *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

: 2016–17 Real Sociedad *

: 2019–20 Newcastle United *

runner-up:

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Individual *

Newcomer of the Year:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

*Allsvenskan Player of the Month: September 2016 *Copa del Rey top scorer: 2019–20 *

Talent of the Month: March 2019 * Fotbollsgalan Forward of the Year: 2021

References

External links

Alexander Isak
at the Newcastle United F.C. website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Isak, Alexander 1999 births Living people People from Solna Municipality Footballers from Stockholm Swedish men's footballers Men's association football forwards AIK Fotboll players Willem II (football club) players Borussia Dortmund players Borussia Dortmund II players Real Sociedad footballers Newcastle United F.C. players Allsvenskan players Regionalliga players Bundesliga players Eredivisie players La Liga players Premier League players Sweden men's youth international footballers Sweden men's under-21 international footballers Sweden men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2020 players Swedish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Swedish expatriate sportspeople in England Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Swedish people of Eritrean descent