Alexander Isak has been one of the standout players for Newcastle United since he joined them from Real Sociedad in 2022.
The Sweden international was able to move to La Real because Ajax failed to secure his services in 2019.
That’s according to Vitesse assistant manager Gery Vink, and he discussed the Newcastle star during a chat with ESPN NL.
La Real signed the striker from Borussia Dortmund after his loan spell at Willem II Tilburg in 2019. Vink was then the Dutch club’s assistant manager and also acted as a caretaker manager for a short period.
Isak scored 14 goals and registered seven assists from 18 games for Willem II and this had convinced Ajax to bet on him. According to the current Vitesse assistant manager, the Amsterdam club could have secured his services for relatively reasonable price.
Marc Overmars was the sporting director at Ajax and he’s to be blamed for their failure to sign the 25-year-old.
“There is apparently a whole story behind that. Marc Overmars and agent [Zoran] Lemic did not get along, Ajax could have picked him up for €11m, peanuts for Ajax at the time. But that conflict meant it didn’t happen,” he said.
Vink is pleased to have trained the current Newcastle player and also talked about his personality.
“Just to be able to watch him for a while. He shot everything in. With his left foot, with his right foot, with an unprecedented pace and technique,” Vink explained.
“We had Timon Wellenreuther in goal at the time, but it seemed like our goalkeepers were getting less and less good with training.
“That boy doesn’t know any kind of arrogance. A very mature boy, who knew very well what he wanted to do with his life. You could even have conversations with him about social things. Normally players his age just sit behind the PlayStation or are preoccupied with what kind of shoes or jacket they are wearing.”
Isak has managed 24 goals and six assists from 36 games for the Magpies this season.
