Sebastian Kehl knows Borussia Dortmund will have to keep a close eye on Newcastle United striker Aleksander Isak tomorrow night, despite the Swede’s unimpressive spell in Westphalia.
Isak managed just five Bundesliga appearances and no goals during a two-year spell at Dortmund before joining Real Sociedad in 2019. He enjoyed a far more successful time in San Sebastian, establishing himself as a first-team regular and prompting Newcastle to spend a club record £60million to take him to Tyneside in the summer of 2022.
Newcastle have made an impressive start to life back in the Champions League, taking four points from a trip to Milan and a home game with Paris Saint-Germain, and sporting director Kehl accepts keeping Isak quiet will be key to Dortmund’s chances at St James’ Park.
He told Kicker: “When he was with us, he wasn’t at this level and didn’t have this impact.
“But Alex always had huge potential, you could see that. The timing was perhaps not right to give him enough match time to be able to develop.
“He took a small step back and now a huge step forward.”
Isak has scored six times in eight Premier League appearances this season and established himself as Newcastle’s first-choice number nine ahead of Callum Wilson.
“He’s in impressive form,” added Kehl. “He’s developed well and is a good guy with a lot of quality. I’m happy for him.”
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Dortmund are fourth in the Bundesliga having beaten Werder Bremen 1-0 on Friday night but have yet to register a win in Champions League Group F.
“We are in good shape, we have gained stability and had a good game at the weekend,” said former Dortmund midfielder Kehl.
“It would be good if we could win, we want to take at least one point.”
