Just nine months after his professional debut, the 17-year-old labelled the new Zlatan Ibrahimovic is attracting attention from some of Europe’s greatest clubs.
AIK Solna wonderkid Alexander Isak would cost a Swedish record £14 million, the club’s Sporting Director has told Expressen.
The 17-year-old striker has become a gossip column regular in recent weeks, his prolific form in Sweden attracting the attention of some of Europe’s biggest clubs and drawing inevitable comparisons with legendary compatriot Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The Sun reported that an astounding 90 scouts were in attendance to watch Isak during AIK’s defeat to Gothenberg in October, with Manchester United, Liverpool and Barcelona all reportedly joining the lengthy chase for the 6ft 3ins teenager.
And any club wanting to turn their interest into a concrete offer will have to dig deep for a player who only made his professional debut in February.
“There are voices in the newspapers and we know that a price of £14 million would be a record for Swedish football but that’s the price we want,” AIK’s Sporting Director Bjorn Wesstrom told Expressen.
Wesstrom also confirmed that he had received formal proposals from a number of clubs with Isak’s whirlwind breakthrough year showing no signs of slowing down.
The striker made his debut for Sweden’s Under-21 side in October, weeks after capping his 17th birthday with a matchwinning brace against AIK’s local rivals Djurgarden.
Isak certainly has a long way to go before he can justify parallels with former Barcelona, Inter and Juventus forward Ibrahimovic, but his next move could end up defining his career.
Following in Zlatan’s footsteps and joining a club such as Ajax, a side with a historic commitment to young players in a less high-profile league, would surely give Isak the room to grow and develop into a player worthy of Europe’s best.
However, the prospect of learning from Sweden’s greatest ever footballer at Old Trafford could prove a tempting proposition, with Ibrahimovic drawing praise from United’s younger stars, such as Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard, for his professionalism and willingness to take the club’s next generation under his wing.
Then again, the fact that Jurgen Klopp has handed out a huge number of first-team debuts after just a year on Merseyside suggests he, rather than the win-at-all-costs Jose Mourinho, would give Isak the time and space to develop at his own pace in a relatively pressure-free environment.
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