Newcastle United icon Alan Shearer has named the only possible destination for Arsenal target Alexander Isak if he leaves for another Premier League club.
Isak has been sensational for Newcastle in recent months as he’s arguably been the best striker in the Premier League of late.
The Sweden international sparked for Newcastle in midweek, grabbing a goal and an assist as his side beat Arsenal 2-0 at the Emirates in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final. He has 15 goals and four assists in his 22 appearances in all competitions.
The Magpies fended off competition from several sides to sign Isak for around £63m and is likely to attract interest from elite clubs if he maintains his current form.
Arsenal are among the Premier League clubs in the market to sign a new striker and a recent report has suggested that Isak is Mikel Arteta’s ‘dream’ target.
READ: Mikel Arteta negativity, Bukayo Saka injury and set-pieces: What is going wrong at Arsenal?
However, it will be difficult for Arsenal to prize Isak away from Newcastle as it’s been suggested that they want £150m for their world-class talent.
Shearer suspects Chelsea are the only Premier League club who “could afford to buy Isak”, but he reckons Newcastle would reject £150m amid one “problem”.
Shearer said: “Other than possibly Chelsea, I genuinely don’t think that anybody could afford to buy Alexander Isak; because of the way that the rules are structured with PSR, I don’t think that anybody could afford him.
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“I’ll never say PSR rules are a good thing – even without them in place, I’m not sure if anybody would be able to go to the price that Newcastle would ask for to sell him.
“I’d guess that they wouldn’t even entertain it. If you’ve paid £63m for someone and he’s smashing the league up like he is right now, what would the price be?
“I’ve looked at £150m being talked about, but I don’t think that they would even entertain that, why would they? The problem then would be getting somebody in who could do as good of a job.
“That, at the minute, is what everybody needs – a centre-forward. There isn’t a club in the country who wouldn’t go out and buy a centre-forward like Isak if one was available.”
While Arsenal may struggle to sign Isak, a report from TEAMtalk (in a story cited journalist James Holland) claims they are ‘interested’ in Barcelona star Ronald Araujo.
‘Sources have revealed to TEAMtalk that Arsenal are interested in Barca defender Ronald Araujo.
‘The centre-back is in line to be sold to ease Barca’s financial concerns, which has put both Arsenal and Juventus on alert.
‘Juve are ramping up negotiations for Araujo which means Arsenal need to act quickly if they are serious about landing him.’
