According to reports, Newcastle United are willing to offload Alexander Isak to Spanish giants FC Barcelona in a shock ‘swap deal’.
Isak has emerged as one of the best strikers in the world and he is enjoying a remarkable season for Newcastle. He has 19 goals and five assists in his 27 appearances this season.
The Swedish international is attracting interest from several elite European and Premier League sides, but Newcastle are unsurprisingly desperate to keep their prized asset.
Newcastle were at risk of losing Isak during last summer’s transfer window as they looked to balance the books to avoid a breach of the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability rules.
The Magpies managed to keep Isak as Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh were sold instead. This enables Eddie Howe’s side to slap a huge price tag on their prized asset amid interest from Arsenal.
Earlier this week, David Ornstein said Isak “tops” Arsenal’s “list” of targets, but Newcastle are keen for him to extend his contract beyond 2028.
Ornstein revealed: “There’s no doubt that he [Isak] is the player that Mikel Arteta has at the top of his list, if he was to sign a striker.
“He’s seen as perfect for Arsenal’s system and everything he offers, but Newcastle fans will hate hearing that, because they’ve got him under contract for a few years.
“Isak is the best striker in world football right now, it would seem. That’s why Mikel Arteta has him as his top target.
“Whether he’ll be able to get him, I’ve got no idea. And Newcastle certainly don’t want to see him go. They want to see him sign a new contract.”
Despite this, a report in Spain has gone against the grain, claiming Newcastle ‘want a swap deal to negotiate with Barcelona’ for Isak.
Barcelona are ‘still exploring options to strengthen their attack’ and Isak is ‘one option they like the most’.
Newcastle are said to ‘value Isak at 150 million euros’ and they have been ‘blunt: they will only agree to negotiate if Barcelona includes Raphinha in the operation’.
Raphinha is an ‘old desire’ of Newcastle as he has been heavily linked with a move to St James’ Park over the past couple of years and the £83m-rated forward has been in fine form this season, grabbing 23 goals and 15 assists in his 34 appearances.
Isak ‘would be happy to play for Barcelona’, but they are ‘not considering getting rid of Raphinha’ and the winger is ‘not keen’ to leave. This makes this possible swap deal ‘complicated’.
‘With the signing of Isak so complicated, Barcelona are still analysing other alternatives to reinforce the forward line.
‘Vitor Roque is already in the squad and could take on a greater role, although Hansi Flick believes that he still needs time to adapt to European football. Ferran Torres, who has shown great form as a centre-forward, is also an internal option that the German coach likes.
For now, the interest in Isak is real, but the conditions imposed by Newcastle make the operation extremely difficult.
‘If Barcelona do not find a way to make the transfer cheaper without including Raphinha, the possibility of seeing Isak at the Camp Nou seems very remote.’
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