According to The Athletic, Manchester City explored a move for Newcastle striker Alexander Isak before signing Erling Haaland.
City had been in the market for an elite striker after the departure of Sergio Aguero, and while Harry Kane seemed to be their top target for a long time, they also explored a few other options.
Dusan Vlahovic was considered, as was Isak, but the Premier League champions were left unconvinced by the pair when doing their due-diligence.
It is interesting to hear that City weren’t convinced by Isak. CIES’ metrics have him down as a more impactful player than Erling Haaland, while he has been described as ‘incredible’ recently.
However, when your alternative option is Haaland, nobody is going to be up to scratch really, are they?
Haaland has taken the Premier League by storm in a way no other player has. He has 18 goals in 13 Premier League appearances, and it seems almost inevitably that he’s going to break Mohamed Salah’s goalscoring record this season.
Haaland is a truly generational talent, and while Isak is a top player in his own right, there isn’t a striker on planet earth right now who stacks up next to Haaland.
Saying that though, Isak has had a bright start to life in England, scoring twice in three appearances so far, but injuries have halted him from kicking on and proving to City that he would’ve been good enough to lead the line for Pep Guardiola’s side.
With Newcastle flying high and only likely to improve as their owners continue to invest, Isak could be a thorn in City’s side for years to come as the Magpies look to battle against the Cityzens in the race for major honours in years to come.
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