Newcastle have just scouted 25-year-old forward who Alexander Isak absolutely loves

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Newcastle United need attacking reinforcements, and Toon officials went to Portugal to watch a possible target last Friday.

While Alexander Isak scored a brace to help Newcastle beat rivals Sunderland 3-0 in the Tyne-Wear derby, club scouts were reflecting on what they saw his fellow countryman do the night before.

According to HITC Football, Newcastle scouts were in attendance for Sporting CP’s 5-1 win over Estoril on Friday night. They report that the Magpies were keeping an eye on Sweden international Viktor Gyokeres.

They will certainly have been impressed with Isak’s international teammate, as he managed to provide three assists during an emphatic win for Sporting.

Viktor Gyokeres has been immense since joining Sporting

The 25-year-old is enjoying an incredible first season in Portugal, and his hat-trick of assists now means that he has 28 goal contributions already. In just 22 appearances for the club, he has provided 18 goals and 10 assists.

It has been a remarkable start to life in a Sporting shirt for Gyokeres, having joined them from Coventry City during the summer transfer window. He cost them around £20million, with the Portuguese giants stealing a march on various English clubs – including Newcastle United.

It was reported over the summer that the Magpies were interested in Gyokeres, who has made 19 appearances for Sweden.

He is an international teammate of Alexander Isak, who would no doubt be very keen for the forward to head to Tyneside.

Alexander Isak loves playing with striker who Newcastle have scouted

Isak has previously praised Gyokeres, after the pair played together for Sweden.

Following a 5-0 win over Azerbaijan in March, the Toon striker was very complimentary towards Gyokeres.

He said: “It is very nice to play with such a player, one who wins all his duels. He did excellently. It made it easier for me, that I could find my areas.”

Isak has already made it clear that he enjoys playing with Gyokeres, so that could make a move to Tyneside very appealing.

However, any move is going to cost a lot of money. His performances for Sporting have put the rest of Europe on notice, and it is difficult to envision them selling him for anything less than his release clause of around £86million.

Newcastle have their eye on Gyokeres, but they will probably wish they had made their move in the summer when he was available for a quarter of the price.