Eddie Howe knows he has one of the world’s very best forwards in his ranks at Newcastle United – but the boss is not about to put his feet up and rest on his laurels over Alexander Isak.
The Swede has 12 goals in 19 outings for the Magpies this term and has found the net in five consecutive Premier League outings in December. Isak, naturally, is attracting plenty of interest from rival clubs such as Arsenal and from the men and women tasked with writing tabloid headlines.
However, Howe this week wouldn’t be drawn on where the 25-year-old ranks in world football and instead would prefer to ensure he continues to punish Newcastle‘s rivals by improving his game even further.
“That is not something I waste my time on, but I understand you have to,” the boss told reporters ahead of Monday’s clash with Manchester United. “My biggest thing with Alex is I am evaluating his game on a daily and weekly basis and I just want to try to push him for more. Everyone else can say where he is in the pecking order of world football.
“His game is in a good place at the moment. My job is to not sit back and appreciate that, my job is to try and find areas he can improve, push him towards that and never stop pushing him. He has all the ingredients in there and football never stops evolving and changing and he has to evolve with it.
“When I saw him I was instantly taken with his game. I love how he plays the game and expresses himself and I still enjoy watching him as a manager now. I need to find the things that can make him better and I can’t stop on his behalf.”
Isak continues to excel with the players around him, striking up solid relationships with the likes of Joe Willock and Jacob Murphy – both on and off the pitch. The former Real Sociedad star swaggers around St James’ Park with the ball at his feet but away from the field of play remains a composed and measured figure as he continues to go from strength to strength in black and white.
“He is calm, cool, he is what you see on the pitch,” Howe continued. “He doesn’t get overly emotional which for a striker is a great quality because that coolness you see and calmness in front of goals is part of his personality, part of what he is.
“He seems to have an extra half a second when other players don’t. With Alex the beauty of his attitude is that he wants to improve. We give him information and he is responsive.
“He is not a closed shop. He is in no way thinking he has arrived at a certain place. He knows he has to keep adding to his game. The challenge is great for him to keep scoring freely as he is now.”
Isak has 24 Premier League goals for Newcastle in 2024, with only Alan Shearer [27 in 2002] scoring more in a single calendar year for the Magpies.
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