Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal to sign PL striker, rival club unlikely to sell player - Reports
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta reportedly wants to sign Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak. But the Magpies apparently do not want to part ways with the young Swede.
Isak, 24, scored 25 times and provided two assists in 49 games across competitions for the Magpies this season. Most of those goal contributions - 21 goals and two assists - came in the Premier League, where Newcastle finished seventh.
He's contracted to the club till 2028, but that has not deterred Gunners manager Arteta from eyeing the player. As per Team News and Talks on Inside Arsenal (via TBR), an insider said about the Spaniard's interest in Isak:
“I really don’t expect it to happen, but it will come from that Arteta is a massive massive fan. He’s one that if Arteta sees that if he could get one player and we only had to sign one player it would be Isak. He loves him and he sees so many different roles and how he could evolve at us in so many different ways.”
However, the report says that the Magpies could ask for £180 million for the services of the Swedish striker, essentially putting the Gunners out of bounds. Moreover, with the Premier League runner-up requiring reinforcements in other areas as well, they are unlikely to spend that much on only one player.
How Mikel Arteta's Arsenal fared in the 2023-24 season
Even though Arsenal fell short of the Premier League title race for the second straight season, they have had another fabulous campaign. To their credit, they kept the title race alive till the last day of the season, eventually ending two points behind winners Manchester City despite winning on the final day.
The disappointment of not ending their 20-year league title drought aside, the Gunners had a lot of positives during the season, where they exited both domestic cups early.
Mikel Arteta's side reached their first UEFA Champions League quarterfinal in 14 years before losing 3-2 on aggregate to Bayern Munich. The Gunners also went unbeaten against City, winning 1-0 at the Emirates and drawing goalless at the Etihad.