'A Modern-Day Thierry Henry' - Walcott Lauds Alexander Isak

After a slow start to the season, Isak has scored in each of his last four games for the Magpies across all competitions to take his goal tally to five, and propel Newcastle into eight position on the Premier League table and into the quarterfinals of the League Cup.

Isak also scored 21 goals in 30 Premier League appearances last season.

The 25-year-old has been linked with some of the Premier League's heavyweights as well other big clubs around the continent, and Walcott reckons that Newcastle might struggle to keep hold of their prized asset, who has a contract until 2027.

"When you talk about the mould for the ultimate build of a perfect striker, Isak has got all of those elements," Walcott told BBC Sport.

"I am not saying he is perfect yet, but he has got all the attributes he needs to become perfect.

"Whether that will happen at Newcastle, I don't know. But they need to tie him down pretty quickly otherwise they are going to lose him.

"Isak is the sort of player Arsenal genuinely need, but you would say everyone needs a player like him in their team right now, even Liverpool, and it is not just Premier League teams who will be trying to get hold of him either.

"Look at Real Madrid’s line-up at this moment in time. They go for these Galacticos and buy these incredible talents, but they sometimes put them in positions where they can’t quite do it.

"I would say that if you put Isak in that Real team then he moulds them together in a different way, where you might think they now look like a very well-balanced team.

"That’s the level he's at, and I can absolutely understand why all the very top teams would want him.

"As well as his all-round forward play, he scores goals as well - all kinds of different goals. As I said on MOTD2, his finish against Forest when the ball dropped for him in the box was pure class, after the brilliant header he put away against Arsenal last week.

"There is more to come from him as well. Newcastle are a good team, but put him in a better team and he would get better too."

Walcott added: "The ability to rotate positions and occupy every role in a frontline is part of what makes him a constant threat. As a player he is something pretty unique in the Premier League right now, and for me he is the closest thing we have seen to another Thierry Henry.

"Henry started out wide, so he knew that role very well, and Isak's pace and strength means he is excellent in those areas too. But where Henry was not particularly great was with his back to goal, or heading the ball, and Isak can head it - the perfect example of that was his winning goal against Arsenal last week.

"I would say he is this generation’s Henry, but with extra attributes in the air. That's who I would compare him to from my era, anyway.

"His game makes him a mix of Didier Drogba, Michael Owen and Henry - oh and with a dash of Theo Walcott's pace out wide. That's not a bad mix at all, is it?"