Is Isak the best striker in the Premier League?

As Alexander Isak's remarkable scoring run continues, David Segar of Opta Analyst takes a closer look at why the Newcastle United striker has developed into arguably the best No 9 in the Premier League right now.

Alexander Isak has been getting his flowers recently.

The excellent form of the Newcastle United forward has not gone unnoticed, with plenty of pundits lining up to lavish him with praise.

Last month the former Real Sociedad man scored a division-high eight goals and also created the most chances from open-play (19).

In fact, he became only the second Newcastle player to score eight Premier League goals in one month, after Callum Wilson did so in April 2023.

Isak has inevitably been linked with a move to some of Europe’s biggest clubs in recent times, with some reports suggesting Newcastle would expect at least £150 million from any potential suitor.

When interviewing Isak for Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football earlier this week, Jamie Carragher said to the Swedish striker: “I absolutely adore you, I think you’re a fantastic player and if I had £150m I’d pay it to have you at any club… I think right now, you’re playing as well as any striker in Europe.”

Carragher also said earlier in the broadcast: “He is the best striker in the Premier League right now… I don’t think it’s actually close.”

Paul Merson also told Sky Sports News: “If I was Arsenal and I had the money I’d go and buy Isak, I’d break the bank for him. I think he’s the best of the best. I think he takes Arsenal to another level.”

Mohamed Salah is leading the Premier League scoring charts this season with 17 goals, while Erling Haaland (14) also has more league goals than Isak’s 12 in 2024/25.

With Salah more of a wide forward and Haaland suffering a recent dip in form, though, it’s difficult to argue with the idea that Isak is the best striker in England’s top flight at the moment.

The 25-year-old’s header to open the scoring in Newcastle’s 2-0 win at Manchester United on Monday made it six consecutive Premier League matches in which Isak had found the net.

Only Alan Shearer and Joe Willock (both seven) have scored in more consecutive matches for the club, and Isak could match them at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

Isak's header v Man Utd

It’s not just recently that Isak has impressed, of course. With his 25 goals in all competitions last season, he became the first Newcastle player to score 25 or more in a single campaign since Shearer in 2003/04 (28).

Isak also scored 25 Premier League goals in total in 2024, the most for the Magpies in a calendar year since Shearer netted 27 times in 2002.

His goal against Man Utd was his 50th Premier League goal involvement for the club (43 goals, seven assists) in just 69 matches, making Isak the third-fastest Newcastle player to reach that landmark behind only Andrew Cole (43 matches) and Les Ferdinand (58 matches).

Since arriving in August 2022, Isak has scored 48 goals in 87 matches for Newcastle in all competitions. Wilson (26) is the only other player to have scored more than 17 goals for the club in that time.

He also recently became only the second Swedish player after Freddie Ljungberg (for Arsenal at Sunderland in May 2003) to score a Premier League hat-trick when he bagged a treble in Newcastle’s 4-0 win at Ipswich Town.

Isak is joint-third in the Premier League Golden Boot race at the halfway stage of the season, level with Cole Palmer on 12 goals, though Isak has made two fewer appearances than the Chelsea star (17 to 19).

Premier League's top scorers 24/25

He has developed a reputation for being cool, calm and collected in front of goal, boasting a shot conversion rate in the Premier League of 22.6 per cent this season, ahead of Haaland’s 17.7 per cent and only just below Salah’s 24.3 per cent.

As you can see from his goal map below, he regularly gets into good positions to score. 10 of his 12 Premier League strikes this season have been within 10 yards of the goal.

In fact, he has scored from each of his 10 closest efforts to goal, while all but one of his 12 goals have been from shots taken between the width of the posts and none were penalties.

He’s also been scoring in big matches. Isak has found the net against Spurs, Chelsea, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Man Utd among others this season.

But what makes him so attractive as a No 9 is how well-rounded his game is. He’s just as capable of dribbling past multiple defenders as he is finishing off a flowing move with a poacher’s goal. But that latter ability shouldn’t be overlooked, and it’s aided by him being a very credible threat in the air.

Isak’s opener at Old Trafford last time out was his fourth headed goal in the Premier League this season, with no-one else scoring more. Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood also has four headed goals, but has scored those from 10 attempts, two more than Isak’s eight.

Building on the point of Isak’s well-roundedness, he seems to be improving as a creative influence, too. He has already created more chances from open-play this season (34) than in any prior campaign for Newcastle, which has led to four assists; never previously has he managed more than two in a season in England.

Isak averaged 0.9 chances created per 90 minutes in each of his first two years on Tyneside, but that’s up to 2.0 this season.

It’s not just what he does with the ball in the final third, though. Isak also does his fair share of work out of possession.

He has won possession in the opposition’s final third 11 times in the Premier League this season, with AFC Bournemouth’s Evanilson (15) the only central striker to have done so more often.

Similarly, only Kai Havertz (70), Tyrick Mitchell (100) and Dominic Solanke (114) have recorded more pressures resulting in a turnover than Isak’s 69 in the Premier League this season, while only Solanke has averaged more pressures in the final third resulting in a turnover per 90 (5.8) than Isak’s 3.4 (minimum of 1,000 minutes played).

While some central strikers can often drift in and out of matches, Isak is heavily involved. For instance, he leads the way for Newcastle in attacking sequence involvements in the league this season, with a total of 93.

There have been suggestions that previous injury problems could put prospective clubs off parting with the vast sums of money it would take to convince Newcastle to sell Isak, but in two and a half seasons at St James’ Park, he’s only had four spells out with injury.

Isak suffered a thigh issue less than a month after signing in 2022/23 that kept him out until January 2023. He ultimately played 27 times that season.

Last season he had two separate periods of absence with a groin problem, but still managed to accumulate 40 appearances in all competitions and at the halfway point of this season, he has already made 20 appearances despite Newcastle not having European football as they did in 2023/24.

He did miss a month of action with a broken toe, but that hardly seems to point to him being injury prone.

Isak has played a big part in the recent upturn in form of Eddie Howe’s men, which has seen them win their last four in the Premier League, five in all competitions, and rise up to fifth in the table at the turn of the year.

Sitting just three points behind Chelsea in fourth, Newcastle will absolutely consider themselves in the race for the top four, and if they can qualify for the UEFA Champions League for a second time in three years, there’s no reason to think Isak won’t stick around the north east for a while longer yet.

One thing’s for sure, though: noises about a potential move will never go away as long as he’s banging in the goals on a regular basis.

Isak is certainly in the conversation when discussing the best strikers in the Premier League, and even in the world. If he keeps playing at this current level, his name will be impossible for anyone to ignore.

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