Alexander Isak (born 21 September 1999) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Real Sociedad and the Sweden national team. Starting off his professional career with AIK in 2016, he represented Borussia Dortmund and Willem II before signing with Real Sociedad in 2019. A full international since 2017, he has won more than 20 caps for his country. He is the youngest ever goal-scorer for both AIK and the Sweden national team.
On 23 January 2017, Isak signed for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund on a long-term contract, lasting until the summer of 2022. The transfer fee was undisclosed, but reports suggested that it was set at €9 million, which would be the highest transfer fee ever paid for an Allsvenskan player. Before signing with Dortmund, Isak reportedly turned down a move to Real Madrid.
Isak made his first appearance for the club in a 3–0 cup win over Sportfreunde Lotte on 14 March 2017. Isak won his first medal with the club when Dortmund won the 2016–17 DFB-Pokal, only appearing once in the tournament, and not being in the squad for the final.
He scored his first competitive goal for Dortmund in a 2017–18 DFB-Pokal second round win against 1. FC Magdeburg on 24 October 2017, scoring the second goal in a 5–0 win.
On 12 June 2019, Isak signed a five-year deal with Real Sociedad, worth £988,000 per year, joining the La Liga club on 1 July 2019, in which he scored his first goal in his first game. He strongly continued the pre-season, scoring four goals in five games. Isak scored his first competitive goal for Real Sociedad in a 3–1 La Liga win against RCD Espanyol on 22 September 2019. On 6 February, Isak scored two goals and made one assist in the Copa del Rey quarter-final against Real Madrid. On February 9, he scored the winning goal in the Basque derby against Athletic Bilbao.
On 3 April 2021, Isak won his first silverware with the club when he started and played in 89 minutes of the 2020 Copa del Rey Final in a 1–0 win against Athletic Bilbao, helping Real Sociedad win the 2019–20 Copa del Rey.
He scored his first hat-trick for the club on 21 February 2021 in a 4–0 2020–21 La Liga win against Deportivo Alaves, becoming the first Swedish player to score a La Liga hat-trick since Henry "Garvis" Carlsson did the same for Atletico Madrid in 1949.
Isak was called up to the Sweden national team for the friendly matches against Ivory Coast on 8 January 2017 and Slovakia on 12 January. He made his debut against the Ivory Coast, coming on for Per Frick in the 62nd minute of a 1–2 loss. He started the second game against Slovakia, scoring the first goal in a 6–0 win in the 19th minute, becoming the youngest goalscorer ever in the history of the Sweden national team.
On 23 March 2019, Isak made his first competitive appearance for Sweden, when he replaced Robin Quaison in the 88th minute in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying game against Romania, which Sweden won 2–1.
Isak scored his first competitive goal for Sweden on 7 June 2019, when Sweden beat Malta in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying game at Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. Isak scored the last goal in a 3–0 win.
Isak was called up for a major tournament for the first time when he was included in Sweden's 26-man squad for UEFA Euro 2020. |
