Real Madrid are a great team. They just won the Club World Cup, they haven’t lost across all competitions since April, and they’re on track to have the best season ever. So why are they vigorously tracking a 17-year-old center forward who plays in Sweden? The fact is, Alexander Isak is Sweden’s most promising striker talent since Zlatan Ibrahimović, and he has everything it takes to be Real Madrid’s first choice 9 in the future. He has to go develop in 2 or 3 clubs before that, but he’s already cracked the Allsvenkan Team of the Year at 17, and he’s already being monitored by the likes of Benfica and Juventus. For AIK, Isak is averaging a goal every other 90 minutes in the league, miles ahead of any young player in the league. Isak came to Sweden from Eritrea, after his family sought political asylum, similar to the refugee history of Zlatan’s family, and they settled in Sweden. Boasting a height only 2 inches shorter than Ibra’s, there’s a reason he’s called the new Ibra. With an imposing stature, brilliant technique and a massive frame to grow into, Alexander Isak is a potential world beater.
Photo Credit: JOHANNA LUNDBERG / BILDBYRÅN