Speaking on The Athletic’s YouTube channel, David Ornstein has claimed that Alexander Isak is amongst the backup targets if Arsenal fail to land Dusan Vlahovic this month.
The Gunners have been targeting Vlahovic for quite some time now, but unfortunately, they’re struggling to make any real breakthroughs with the Serbian.
As Fabrizio Romano reported over the weekend, Vlahovic’s agent isn’t quite sold on the idea of moving to Arsenal.
Therefore, Arsenal have identified some backup targets, including Isak.
What’s Ornstein said about Isak?
Ornstein named Isak as one of Arsenal’s backup options if they don’t sign Vlahovic.
“Dusan Vlahovic is their key target for that position, and they have very credible backup options. The likes of Alexander Isak at Real Sociedad and Dominic Calvert-Lewin has admirers at Arsenal,” Ornstein said.
“Vlahovic is going to be really difficult, they’ve been pushing hard, but I’ve not been made aware of any progress in recent days.”
Riskier than Vlahovic
Isak is certainly a talented player. After all, he lit up Euro 2020 with his silky skills and brilliant footwork – even if he didn’t score any goals.
However, unfortunately, that’s exactly where the problem lies. Isak isn’t a reliable goalscorer.
He has just four league goals to his name this term – add in the three he’s netted in the Europa League and that goes up to seven in all competitions, which, with all due respect, isn’t an incredibly impressive number.
He can be clinical. After all, he netted 17 La Liga goals last term, but the inconsistency he’s shown this term means that he’d be a riskier signing than Vlahovic.
This could be a fantastic signing, but it could also backfire, and Arsenal aren’t really in a position where they can gamble right now.
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