Newcastle United’s record signing Alexander Isak has certainly had to bide his time to show Eddie Howe what he can do, but he’s making the most of the situation.
Isak, who signed in the summer for £63million hasn’t had it all his own way at Newcastle with injuries playing a big part in keeping him out of the team, but he’s also found himself having to wait in line behind Callum Wilson for a place in the starting lineup.
“I’ve been wanting to play more, but it has been giving me a bit of fuel, and I’m happy to start today and get three points,” Isak told Sky Sports. “I’ve had to be patient, but I’ve been working hard. The team have been playing good, but we haven’t got the results – and today was all about winning.”
Fans wanted Isak to start against Wolves
There were loud calls from sections of the Newcastle fanbase this week for Eddie Howe to drop Wilson and play Isak against Wolves, and their wish was granted. Howe made wholesale changes to the front three and each one worked in its own way.
Isak found himself back among the goals with a sublime header from a Kieran Trippier free-kick. Allan Saint-Maximin and Isak linked up brilliantly throughout the first half and while Jacob Murphy had a good game too, having Miguel Almiron come on later in the game instead of starting worked wonders as the Paraguayan bagged the winner.
The 23-year-old Sweden international is, according to Howe, not at 100% yet and isn’t ready to play a full 90 minutes on a regular basis. That is a frightening thought. If that was Isak not at his best then we have one amazing player on our hands.
We have an amazing player on our hands in Isak
We have seen bits from Isak, particularly his debut against Liverpool, but his performance against Wolves might have been even better. He’s going to be huge for Newcastle and as he gets fitter and more used to the pace of the game in the Premier League, I’m sure Howe will use him more often.
In the meantime, if Isak can keep using that frustration as his fuel in the same way as he did against Wolves, I don’t have an issue with him not playing every week if he can play like that every time he does.