Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson believes that Alexander Isak “can only go to Arsenal” if he decides to leave Newcastle at the end of the season.

The Swedish international terrorised the Gunners during the Magpies’ 2-0 win in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night. Asked about Isak’s future, Merson said that he can’t see him moving to any other team in the Premier League or Europe :

“The lad’s a special player. On the way in, I was thinking, where’s he going to go? Where can he go? He’s not going Man City, he’s not going to go Man United, I don’t think Man United have the money to buy anybody anyway, he’s not going to go Tottenham, I don’t think he’s going to go Villa. He can only go to Arsenal in the whole world really, unless it’s Real Madrid and they already got [Kylian] Mbappe anyway.”

Merson did, however, emphasise that it isn’t a foregone conclusion that Isak will want to leave St James’ Park:

“For me, it’s only Arsenal he can go and then it’ll be up to him, whether he wants to go and play for Arsenal, ‘I might win something or stay at Newcastle and might win something’.”

Isak’s price tag is increasing by the day

Even before his latest heroics in the Carabao Cup, it was reported that Newcastle would hold out for a fee of £150m; a figure that would smash the British record.

Only Saudi Pro League clubs and potentially Manchester City or Real Madrid could realistically stump up that much cash for one player. With that in mind, the likelihood of Arsenal tempting the Magpies into selling Isak to them this summer is very low.

The player has never expressed a desire to leave Newcastle

It should be pointed out that Isak has spoken out on more than one occasion to say how happy he is with life in the North East.

The 25-year-old will be playing in another domestic cup final next month for his current club while their league form suggests that they could well be back in the Champions League next season too.

Find out who is in Newcastle United’s first-team squad for the 2024/2025 season here