Borussia Dortmund snap up yet another wonderkid, sign 'new Zlatan' Alexander Isak

By Aaron West
Published

Borussia Dortmund are the en vogue destination for wonderkids in Europe. They've just tied Christian Pulisic to the club until 2020, announcing the renewal of his contract on Monday morning. Now, they've cemented their status as Europe's hottest landing spot for young players, announcing that 17-year-old Swedish sensation Alexander Isak has signed for the club.

https://twitter.com/BVB/status/823485865271980032?s=09

“Alexander Isak is a hugely-talented striker, who many top clubs in Europe wanted to sign," said Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc. "We are delighted that he has chosen Borussia Dortmund. Both BVB and the player himself are convinced that this transfer has great potential.”

Isak, who just became Sweden's youngest ever goalscorer, was linked heavily with a move to Real Madrid, but instead has become the latest in a string of insanely talented young players to join up with Die Schwarzgelben. He now links up with fellow wonderkids like electric Frenchman Ousmane Dembele (19), Turkish attacker Emre Mor (19), metronomic German midfielder Julian Weigl (21), and of course, Pulisic himself (18).

There's a youth revolution of sorts at Dortmund, and it makes sense. Manager Thomas Tuchel and his staff not only seek out talented young players to add to their ranks, they do a fantastic job of encouraging that development through their egalitarian system of playing time. Simply put, at Dortmund, if you're good enough, you play.

Pulisic himself has been a great beneficiary of that system, and he's earned his way to being one of Dortmund's most regularly used players because of it. New signing Isak will face strong competition from Dortmund's star man Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang up front, but if he's up to the task, recent history has shown that he'll get his fair share of minutes just like the rest of Dortmund's young crew.

Isak is only 17, unproven at the highest stage, and brand-new to the German culture and playing style. It's impossible to say how he'll settle in, but there's no rush for him to become a star at Dortmund. Still, if he does hit the ground running, the sky's the limit, as Pulisic and the rest of his young cohorts have shown. Dortmund is where the kids get a chance to shine.