There is no denying that Newcastle United have one of the best strikers in the Premier League in Alexander Isak.
The 24-year-old is in the race for Golden Boot, and closed the gap to Erling Haaland this weekend. The Manchester City striker is two goals ahead of Alexander Isak, after scoring in a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest.
As for Isak, he bagged a crucial brace to help Newcastle beat Sheffield United. The Swede gave the Magpies the injection of quality they were missing in the first half, grabbing an equaliser out of nowhere with some incredible movement and a wonderous finish.
He also netted a penalty too, scoring his 19th Premier League goal of the season. In all competitions, he has scored 23 times. It is the best season of Isak’s career, while he is the first Newcastle United play to score more than 20 in a top flight campaign since Alan Shearer in 2004.
Garth Crooks makes odd Alexander Isak prediction
Isak is well on his way to becoming a Newcastle United legend, and he will do exactly that if he continues to score at this rate. He is on fire right now, proving that he was more than worth the club record fee of £63million that he cost two years ago.
However, for all his exploits in front of goal, BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks is not sure if the Sweden international will go on to be recognised as a Newcastle United great.
He has included Isak in his Premier League team of the week after his goals against Sheffield United, but Crooks has raised one concern.
“Newcastle United fans expect something a little bit special from their centre-forward,” he wrote.
“After all they have had the likes of Malcom Macdonald, Kevin Keegan, Alan Shearer and Andy Cole and all have graced St James’ Park with goals – and plenty of them.
“Alexander Isak may not go down as one of Newcastle’s greats but with 23 goals in all competitions to his name this season, he has certainly played his part in making sure the Magpies have recovered sufficiently from a very punishing season, and one where their exploits in the Champions League took its toll.”
Isak can definitely prove Crooks wrong at Newcastle United
It seems odd that Crooks does not believe Isak can go on to achieve legendary status on Tyneside.
While there is pretty much no chance of him reaching Alan Shearer’s Toon tally of 206, Isak will have ambitions of hurtling up the Newcastle goalscoring charts.
He has scored 33 since his arrival in 2022, which is impressive from 63 appearances. As it stands, he is the 57th highest scorer in the club’s history. One more goal will draw him level with Andy Carroll and Dwight Gayle, both of which scored the majority of their Toon goals in the second tier.
For Isak, the only thing stopping him from becoming a Newcastle United icon will be longevity. If he leaves this summer then fair enough, Crooks will be right. He will not be considered a Toon great.
But if he stays for the next five years and continues scoring at this rate then he will be up there with the best to ever lead the line for Newcastle United. He truly is an elite centre-forward, and he will be immortalised if he helps the club win a major trophy – something the greats that Crooks mentioned failed to do.
The post Garth Crooks has just made a very strange claim about Newcastle United star Alexander Isak appeared first on Geordie Boot Boys.