UEFA.com's weekly wonderkid: Alexander Isak
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Article summary
Alexander Isak had not played a game of senior football less than 11 months ago; now he is Sweden's youngest-ever scorer and a high-profile signing for Borussia Dortmund.
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He only made his bow in Sweden's top flight in April, but 17-year-old Alexander Isak had earned plenty of headlines even before this week's move from AIK Solna to Borussia Dortmund, who beat off plenty of competition for his signature. The teenager who earned his Sweden debut earlier this month is already getting used to the spotlight.
Name: Alexander Isak
Club: Borussia Dortmund
Debut: (for AIK) 28 February 2016 v Tenhult (Swedish Cup)
Position: forward
Nationality: Swedish
Born: 21 September 1999
Preferred foot: right
Height: 190cm
They say ...
"Generally I like to see players progress step by step. That's normally the best way. But is Alexander Isak a normal player? No, perhaps not."
Janne Andersson, Sweden coach
"You can see that he is a very good player. A lot keeps being written [about Isak], but he is no product of the media, he is a product of football."
Rikard Norking, AIK coach
Background ...
Born and raised in the footballing hotbed of Solna, with the national Friends Arena – where this season's UEFA Europa League final will be held – a few hundred metres from his home. He joined AIK's football school at the age of five and reached the senior squad 11 years later, in 2016.
Isak became AIK's youngest competitive scorer on debut against Tenhult and claimed the club's Allsvenskan record on his bow in that competition, ending the 2016 season with ten league goals for the runners-up. On 12 January 2017, against Slovakia, aged 17 years and 114 days, he also became the youngest to score for Sweden's senior side, four days after his debut against Ivory Coast.
Playing style ...
Has intelligence matched with smooth ball control. Isak's height also makes him an aerial threat.
Shades of ...
Nwankwo Kanu – a slender frame and an eye for goal.
Eureka moment ...
Isak had already scored four Allsvenskan goals, but really hit the headlines with two in AIK's 3–0 win against city rivals Djurgården in Stockholm's high-pressure 'Twin Derby'. Not a bad way to celebrate your 17th birthday.
Best-case scenario ...
Has been compared to Zlatan Ibrahimović. Though Isak is his own personality, his promise certainly matches that of the erstwhile Sweden captain.
He says ...
"I don't really focus on things like that, but it is more fun than being the second-youngest."
After becoming the youngest Sweden scorer
"The past year has been indescribable."
After completing the transfer from AIK to Dortmund