ISAK’S EURO VISION
We can compete with elite says Alex
ALEXANDER ISAK believes Newcastle’s European hopes have been turbo-charged and they can compete with the elite.
The Sweden forward is out to shoot down Leicester tonight and earn the point the Magpies need to seal a top-four finish.
Record signing Isak arrived from Real Sociedad at the end of August for £54million and, after an injury-hit start, has excelled, with an amazing dribble and assist against Everton.
Isak said: “When I signed I knew it was a good project and I knew the club’s goals. But it has come quickly. The job isn’t finished, but we have got ourselves in a great position to achieve something. We have to finish it, stay focused.
“We all have [the Champions League] in the back of our heads. We know what we are fighting for and how close it is. The job needs to be done.
“They told me the ambition was to become a big club and to fight for something.
“Since I came I felt that. Already we have done some great things”
Isak, 23, scored against Barcelona for Sociedad in August and is convinced Newcastle can compete on their travels next season. He said: “If we get there, yes. I don’t want to talk too much about it yet.
“As a player you have to focus on what is important and we are still in this season.
“When I came here I didn’t feel questioned. I felt backed.
“I was confident and I liked the project, and that is all that mattered. It is a big club, but we can achieve more in terms of getting higher in tables and further in tournaments, but Newcastle is a massive club.
“You don’t go round in the summer saying we are going to do this or that.
“You take it by getting off to a good start and, as the season goes on, you aim step by step.
“Now we are in a great position and can say we need that Champions League spot.”
Toon manager Eddie Howe admits that the initial aim this season was “keep improving” his side from their 11th-placed finish last term after their relegation scare.
Instead they have hit new levels of fitness and intensity, which has rocketed the club to unexpected heights.
Howe said: “It was about not being involved in a relegation battle. It was trying to be a stable Premier League team with a view on improving each year and getting to where we are now.
“That was our plan. When you’ve been fighting relegation like we were last year, you don’t expect to go from there to there in one pre-season.
“Full credit to the players for what they’ve done.
“Everyone will say, ‘That’s a great achievement’. All I can think of is that next challenge because you can’t sit back and say, ‘Right, I’m going to take a month off and go and relax on a beach’.”
NEWCASTLE (probable): Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Anderson, Guimaraes, Joelinton; Almiron, Wilson, Isak.
LEICESTER (probable): Iversen; Pereira, Evans, Soyuncu, Castagne; Ndidi, Soumare; Tielemans, Maddison, Barnes; Vardy.