Alexander Isak showed his classy side with a selfless gesture towards a fellow Arsenal target while on international duty. The Newcastle forward scored two goals in the space of six minutes to help Sweden secure a 3-1 win over Azerbaijan on Friday.
Isak, who was linked with a move to Arsenal over the summer, combined with Sporting marksman Viktor Gyokeres for all three goals. The latter provided two assists for Isak, who found the net in the 65th minute before striking again shortly afterwards.
He had the chance to make it a hat-trick with 10 minutes remaining when he was fouled in the box, prompting the referee to award Sweden a penalty. In a selfless act of kindness, Isak handed the ball to Gyokeres rather than taking the spot-kick himself.
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Speaking after the match, he explained that he felt Gyokeres deserved a goal after providing two assists earlier in the game.
"We talked about it," said Isak. "We both wanted to take the penalty but I said that he had assisted me two times so he could take the penalty, otherwise I would probably have wanted to have a hat-trick. Sometimes you need to be generous.
"It was two fantastic assists from Viktor. We talked before [the match] that we need to have a good connection between each other and I think that we showed that today."
Gyokeres was also linked with a move to Arsenal during the summer but ended up staying at Sporting. It was reported that offers in the region of £43million would be listened to, but nothing materialised for the Gunners in spite of their interest.
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Isak's act of kindness showed that he is more than happy to put his team-mates before himself, a personality trait which would go down well at Arsenal. Mikel Arteta has made it clear that he will not sign players who do not have the right character regardless of their ability on the pitch.
He underlined the importance of bringing good people into the dressing room back in 2021, saying: "In my opinion, it is vital. It is crucial. A team is formed by individuals who have the same purpose and to have the same purpose you have to trust each other.
"You have to be connected with each other. You have to create energy between each other. To do that, there has to be some affection, some love, some belief between them. That only happens when you like what you see, you like the characters and you feel connected with them."
