Alexander Isak was 'made in a Cold War nuclear bunker' as boyhood club AIK reveal secrets behind building £150m-rated Newcastle striker

Isak, who joined the Magpies in 2022 from Real Sociedad, is among the finest strikers in the Premier League at the moment. His consistent performances over the last three seasons have seen him attract interest from several top European clubs, including the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United.

The forward's journey as a footballer began at AIK's youth setup at Rasunda Idrottsplats, a district in Solna, Sweden. The academy's home was once a 'Cold War nuclear bunker'. Speaking to the Daily Mail, technical director of AIK’s academy Peter Wennberg told the story of a young Isak in the youth teams: "He had a look in his eye. Alex had noticed their goalkeeper too far from his line. Boom! It showed his belief, intelligence, ability. His courage. We all turned to each other, 'Oh my God!'"

Alexander Snacke, who was a team-mate of Isak in AIK's youth setup and is now a Under-14s coach said: "He was not our best player. Then, at 16, something happened. It was like his body hit the right dimensions and all of the extra training he had done came out. It just clicked, like a switch, an explosion. I have never seen that happen to anyone, as a player or coach. It is usually gradual. He went through the roof. At 15, I remember Peter and the other coaches speaking to him. He needed to step it up. He listened and kept going. Then, we realised. I was a centre-back, so I knew before most."

Snacke added: "Horrible! Terrible! For 30 minutes he could do very little. Then, for two minutes, he was like, 'OK, now it’s fun to toy with you'. We played an U17 national semi-final, the biggest game of our lives. We won 3-0 and he assisted all the goals. We were a year younger, but he was by far the best player on the pitch. That was when we knew, 'OK, he’s too good for us now'. He played a few games for the U19s and then into the first team, aged 16."

Isak left AIK for Borussia Dortmund in 2016 before then heading to Sociedad three years later.

For now, the striker remains focused on Newcastle and will aim to win his first trophy with the club on Sunday as they take on Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final.