Gustav Isaksen – FC Midtjylland’s next big sale? by @DANISHF00TBALL

Gustav Isaksen – FC Midtjylland’s next big sale? by @DANISHF00TBALL

Background

Danish football is currently thriving, and a lot of talents are emerging in these years, and Gustav Isaksen is right up there amongst the best prospects. He is still playing for FC Midtjylland in the Danish Superliga, where he is a first-team regular, but he has had interest from big clubs like Manchester City for some years now. He gained a lot of attention after almost single-handedly knocking Manchester United out of the UEFA Youth League round of 16 in 2019.

Who is Gustav Isaksen?

Gustav Isaksen is 20 years old, and he currently plays for FC Midtjylland, who are sitting in 1st place in the Danish Superliga. He is 178 centimeters tall, and he is mainly used as a right-winger, but he can also do a job as a left-winger or even as a centre-forward, He has played 41 games for the various Danish youth national teams while scoring 12 goals, and it seems that he will be given an important role for the Danish U21 national team going forward, which is a testament to his quality.

Playing Style

Gustav Isaksen is a very versatile player. He can dribble, pass and shoot very well with both feet which gives him an advantage when taking on the opposition, but he seems to be best when cutting in from the right, where he can use his left foot, which can be seen in these two clips.

Gustav Isaksen’s main strengths right now seem to be his speed and dribbling ability. He is not your playmaking winger, but once he is isolated with a defender, and he is given space, they will have a tough time, because his acceleration and top speed are extremely impressive, while he is also great at keeping the ball glued to his feet. On the other hand, he still needs to work on his end product in decisive situations. He has 15 goal contributions in 72 games for FC Midtjylland’s first team, which leaves something to be desired, but this aspect has definitely improved this season, where he has 10 goal contributions in 27 games. When you also watch him play, you also notice how big of an impact he has on a game, which may not show up in the statistics, because he causes so much trouble for his opponents, which eventually creates space for his teammates to take advantage of.

Similar Players

Gustav Isaksen’s profile is very similar to Ousmane Dembélé’s. While Dembélé is currently struggling, most people also know and remember how good the French winger was at Stade Rennais and Borussia Dortmund. Neither of the two players are goal machines, and both can struggle with their decision-making, but they are both so extremely quick, and so great at dribbling at high speeds, which almost certainly will cause the opposition problems at some point in a game.

What’s Next for Gustav Isaksen?

If Gustav Isaksen continues to improve, which seems very likely, this could very well be his last season for FC Midtjylland. As mentioned earlier, he has been on the radar of some big clubs already, and talents from the Danish Superliga are highly rated currently. Players like Kamaldeen Sulemana and Jesper Lindstrøm left the league in the summer of 2021, and are enjoying success at respectively Stade Rennais and Eintracht Frankfurt, and Gustav Isaksen is now one of the highest-rated youngsters in the league, and he will almost certainly attract a lot of interest in the summer if he continues to impress.