🦁 Premier League Player of the Week: Swede dreams are made of this | OneFootball

The Premier League has broken for the international break.

And before everyone jets off to represent their countries, it’s time to reveal our Player of the Week …

Alexander Isak (Newcastle United)

Being the record signing for a club like Newcastle must come with a lot of pressure.

The Toon Army have always had high hopes for their team, but never more so than since the club’s 2021 takeover, when expectations shifted dramatically.

Prior to his move to Tyneside, Alexander Isak had been developing his game at a steady rate with Real Sociedad, for whom he scored a modest 44 goals in 132 games.

But his €70m switch to Newcastle thrust the young striker into the spotlight, forcing him to take on greater responsibility than he’d ever dealt with in his career before.

He made a great first impression for his new club with a brilliant goal away at Liverpool on his debut, but his first few months at St James Park were beset by frustrating injury issues.

Thankfully, the Swede has been free of injury since January and slowly but surely he is beginning to get back to full fitness and show why Newcastle made him their all-time record transfer in the summer.

On Friday night, the Magpies travelled to face a Nottingham Forest side who hadn’t been beaten at home since September, and the visitors found themselves a goal down midway through the first half.

But a brilliant improvised finish from Isak got them back on level terms just before half-time.

And then, just when it looked like the two sides would have to settle for a draw, Newcastle were awarded a penalty deep into second half stoppage time.

Isak was the calmest man in the City Ground as he calmly fired the spot-kick away to claim a dramatic three points for his side.

That cool head will serve him well, and his brace earned him a deserved Man of the Match award on the night.

Isak has now scored six goals in just seven Premier League starts for Newcastle and only Manchester City’s Erling Haaland has a better goals-to-minutes ratio in the league this season.

He is still only 23 and is finally looking close to his peak level of fitness again, which suggests the best is yet to come.

Whether he will prove to be Newcastle’s best number nine since Alan Shearer remains to be seen, but the future looks very bright for him all the same.