London duo given Isak boost

Arsenal and Chelsea’s chance of signing Alexander Isak in the summer have been given a substantial boost.

It follows reports that he has a verbal agreement with Newcastle United that he can leave the club in the summer for ₤83 million if the North-East club fails to qualify for the Champions League next season.

Their weekend defeat to Manchester City left them seventh in the table. Only the top four are guaranteed to make the Champions League next season, although the Premier League’s current coefficient means that fifth placed finish this time round could be good enough to earn a spot in the competition.

Isak is having his best scoring season since arriving in England, having already found the net 17 times in the Premier League so far. And his goals have helped carry the club to the EFL Cup final.

The pair, though, face competition from a number of other clubs, with Barcelona and Liverpool among those tracking the player’s situation.

Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.