Dortmund signing Alexander Isak confirms them as the go-to destination for Europe's best young players

Alexander Isak is a leader. He is the leader of Sweden's next generation, their great young hope and yet, at the same time, he is a follower.

Because in taking the decision to join Borussia Dortmund, rather than Real Madrid or any of his other, richer, suitors, Isak is not exactly breaking the mould.

Rather, he is joining a procession of young talent at one of the continent's most exciting clubs. Dortmund may be having a down season, floundering in fourth and with the title already a distant dream, but they boast one of the most exciting coaches in Europe in 43-year-old Thomas Tuchel and they now have a youthful core that is the envy - and, indeed, the desire - of much of the European elite.

open image in gallery

Isak, a 17-year-old prodigy of Eritrean heritage but Swedish upbringing, becomes the Westphalia club's youngest hope but surrounding him are four more starlets not yet out of their teens. Christian Pulisic, more a Liverpool obsession than merely a target, is American soccer's great hope at just 18 and German full-back Felix Passlack is the same age. A year older are Emre Mor, a Danish-born Turkish international winger who is most dangerous when used on the opposite flank to Ousmane Dembele, the French prodigy who, like Isak, rejected far bigger riches and reputations to play first-team football in Dortmund's talent incubator.

Mikel Merino escaped the grasps of Barcelona and Madrid in his homeland to sign from second-tier Osasuna last summer. Comparatively he and Julian Weigl, 20 and 21 respectively, are senior members of the squad but still have over a decade of top-level football ahead of them.

open image in gallery

And then you have the players who are currently entering their peak; Mario Gotze, Marc Bartra, Matthias Ginter, Sebastian Rode, Raphael Guerreiro, Marco Reus and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

It is a conveyor belt for their first team and it is, most likely, an investment fund that will bankroll their future. There will be sales, of course, but they won't come cheap. Aubameyang and Weigl are already being talked about as players that could attract bids north of £60million. That buys you a lot more Isaks and Dembeles, who in turn - considering inflation and their raw talent - could end up fetching nine-figure transfer fees themselves eventually.

Should Isak become a leader of Dortmund's next wave, then he already knows what will follow for him. Now the heir to Zlatan must assume an air of Zlatan, one of superiority and confidence, to become a superstar.

Borussia Dortmund on Monday announced the signing of Alexander Isak from AIK Solna.

17-year-old Isak, who became his country's youngest goalscorer earlier this month, has agreed a "long-term contract" with the Bundesliga outfit.

"Alexander Isak is a high-calibre player who was wanted by a number of top European clubs," Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc said on the club's website.

"We are very glad that he has decided on Borussia Dortmund. BVB is just as convinced as the player that this transfer is one with great potential."

A separate approval is required from FIFA because the player is not yet of age, but this is thought to be a formality for the deal - worth a reported 10million euros (£8.6million) - to be finalised.

Isak made his debut last February, aged 16, for boyhood club AIK, and has since scored scored 13 goals in 29 professional games.

He won his first senior Sweden cap as a substitute against Ivory Coast earlier this month, and netted on his full debut against Slovakia four days later at the age of 17 years and 113 days to beat Erik Dahlstrom's 104-year-old national record.