The Allan Saint-Maximin comparison that highlights why Newcastle star is "priceless"
WHEN Dan Burn trained with Allan Saint-Maximin, he thought the Frenchman was the best dribbler he had ever seen. Then he met Alexander Isak.
Watching Isak at close quarters - and occasionally trying to get the better of the Swedish striker in training - Burn has been able to appreciate just how talented his team-mate is when he has the ball at his feet.
And that, as much as Isak's superb goalscoring record, is the reason why Burn regards the 25-year-old as "priceless" despite the transfer rumours that continue to swirl around him.
Saturday's 3-1 victory at Southampton saw Isak take his goalscoring tally to 15 in the Premier League as he scored for the ninth league game in ten.
Newcastle are ready to initiate a new round of contract discussions at the end of the season in order to fend off interest from suitors at home and abroad, with Arsenal having repeatedly been linked with a possible move for the Sweden international.
Like the rest of his team-mates, Burn is aware of the speculation that reappears in every transfer window, but feels it is impossible to put a price on Isak's head given his all-round quality.
Asked about Isak's value to Newcastle, Burn said: "It's for the owners to say, but he's priceless to us. The way he moves - you come up against special players, but there's nobody out there that dribbles the way he dribbles.
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"Allan Saint-Maximin was something different, and he was probably the best dribbler I've ever played with. But you just have to look at the quality (of Isak), it's not just dribbling for the sake of it.
"He's on fire at the moment, probably one of the best strikers in the world at the moment. It's hard because it's hard to defend just the way he moves. He moves his feet quickly, but his top half doesn't really move."
Newcastle briefly fell behind Southampton at the weekend, with Jan Bednarek heading home in the tenth minute before Isak levelled from the penalty spot after being fouled by Joe Aribo.
The league's bottom side quickly crumbled allowing Isak to add his second shortly afterwards from Jacob Murphy's through-ball.
The best of Newcastle's goals was scored by Sandro Tonali. Isak chested the ball off to Anthony Gordon who, with one touch, knocked it through to the former AC Milan midfielder who stroked it into the corner.
It was a tenth win in 11 games in all competitions for Eddie Howe's side, who sit fifth in the league, outside the top four on goal-difference after fourth-placed Manchester City beat Chelsea, who dropped to sixth.
"The gaffer has just said you've got to dream what you can do," said Burn. "We could definitely do something special this season."
Saturday's victory was a welcome return to winning ways for the Magpies after Bournemouth had ended their nine-match winning spree with a 4-1 win at St James' Park seven days earlier.
The defeat to the Cherries was a shock to the system after a superb couple of months, although Burn feels it might have come at an opportune time to ensure he and his team-mates do not start taking anything for granted with four months of the season still to go.
"It was probably just a little bit of a kick that we needed," said Burn. "We were probably getting too far ahead of ourselves, but even at the start of the season when we were inconsistent, we were still just trying to hit our standards."
