Arsenal's refusal to activate Alexander Isak's release clause makes perfect sense
dailystar.co.ukArsenal’s attempts to sign a striker on transfer deadline day ended in failure after the club decided against activating Real Sociedad target man Alexander Isak’s release clause.The Gunners made a late move to swoop for Isak after missing out on Dusan Vlahovic, who joined Juventus in a £63million deal in the last week of the transfer window.They entered negotiations with the La Liga outfit, only to be quoted the clause for the minimum buyout fee written into his contract.La Real reportedly demanded Isak’s £77m release clause to be paid in full and informed Arsenal they would not accept a lower amount.According to The Athletic, the north London club deemed the amount to exceed his actual market value and withdrew their interest, focusing on other targets.The 22-year-old has scored eight goals in 25 appearances across all competitions, but only four in 18 La Liga outings.Isak, a Sweden international, has been tipped as the nation’s biggest attacking talent since Zlatan Ibrahimovic and caught the eye with some impressive performances at Euro 2020.While technical director Edu Gaspar may have been right to decline to pay the clause, the Brazilian will have some feelings of regret after failing to add a striker to Mikel Arteta’s squad before the transfer window shut.The club also approached Espanyol about a move for 12-goal striker Raul de Tomas, but were again told to pay his release clause, revealed to be €75m (£63m) by the club’s president.Soon, it became apparent that Arsenal would not be signing a striker, which means Arteta must cope with Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah until the end of the season.Both strikers can leave on free transfers at the end of the campaign as their contracts expire in June, which could.
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