Arsenal handed major Alexander Isak transfer boost | OneFootball

Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak is said to be "open" to joining Arsenal this summer, a new report has claimed.

The Swedish forward has enjoyed a career-defining campaign at the tip of Newcastle team chasing Champions League qualification. Isak is not only the first Magpies player to surpass the tally of 25 goals across all competitions since Alan Shearer, but achieved something the club's all-time top scorer never managed; winning a major piece of silverware.

Isak scored Newcastle's second goal in a 2-1 victory over Liverpool to secure the club's first major domestic trophy since 1955. Such blistering form has won the 25-year-old a swollen glut of admirers which extend beyond the confines of Tyneside.

Arsenal's reported interest in Isak is nothing new, but it has now been revealed that the player himself "would be open to a move to London", according to BBC Sport.

A deal is not entirely forthcoming just yet. There is thought to be extensive competition for Isak's signature - chiefly from the likes of freshly crowned top-flight champions Liverpool. However, the Reds are said to be pessimistic about their chances of signing Isak and the BBC claim that any agreement between Arsenal and Newcastle "may be unlikely" due to the financial realities of any hypothetical transfer.

The Magpies are reportedly demanding a record-shattering fee of £150m for Isak, if they can be tempted to part ways with their prolific striker for any sum at all.

Arsenal's need for a centre-forward is painfully apparent and the club's more likely striker acquisitions come in the form of RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko and Sporting CP superstar Viktor Gyokeres. Incoming sporting director Andrea Berta is thought to favour Gyokeres, even if other aspects of Arsenal's hierarchy have questioned his ability to translate such staggering scoring statistics from the Portuguese top flight to the Premier League.

Sesko is believed to be an exciting addition for the future, although he doesn't have the same attacking numbers as Arsenal's other targets.

While Isak can point to 23 Premier League strikes and Gyokeres boasts a sickening 38 goals in the league alone, RB Leipzig's 21-year-old has a modest Bundesliga haul of 13 this season. For comparison, that's two fewer than Omar Marmoush, who left Eintracht Frankfurt for Manchester City in January.