One of many phrases to tick off during the weekly Friday morning game of Arne Slot Press Conference Bingo was ‘Alexander Isak has signed for six years, not six months’.
The now-departed Liverpool boss would use it as a quip to those questioning why the £125million man had not even got close to repaying his British-record price tag, with just two goals in his first 15 games for the club as he struggled to gain fitness.
Six years, remember, not six months. The problem was that one of those years has already been and gone. Given the mammoth outlay, that’s £20.8m of the fee gone already with just four goals to show for it.
Just when he looked like he had finally cracked it, away at Tottenham in December with a first-half goal, he was crocked in the process of scoring by defender Micky van de Ven and broke his leg. That was pretty much that for the season and he was nowhere near full fitness until the World Cup.
But 12 months on from his acrimonious exit from Newcastle, Isak is finally ready to put that nightmare year behind him and be the player Liverpool thought they were signing.
On Sunday, he is expected to play his first pre-season match against Leeds United here in Chicago and Andoni Iraola, the man now sitting in Slot’s chair, could do with Isak more than anyone.
Alexander Isak, the £125million man had not even got close to repaying his British-record price tag, with just two goals in his first 15 games for the club as he struggled to gain fitness
Just when he looked like he had finally cracked it, away at Tottenham in December with a first-half goal, he was crocked while scoring by defender Micky van de Ven and broke his leg
There were many reasons Slot failed – but one was the failure of his two big-money buys last summer, Isak and £116m Florian Wirtz, to step up. Isak was barely fit and Wirtz looked like a fish out of water at times.
In both cases, one bad season can be forgiven and forgotten but serious questions will be asked if it continues into their sophomore years at Anfield. I understand that both have been enjoying the intensity of Iraola’s new regime and are ready to step up.
Isak, it is easy to forget, is one of the best strikers in the Premier League. Since he joined Newcastle ahead of the 2022-23 season, only three forwards have more than his 57 goals: Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah and Ollie Watkins.
Iraola needs him to rediscover that form more than ever. With fellow No 9 Hugo Ekitike a long-term absentee with a ruptured achilles, Mohamed Salah gone and no new top winger yet signed, Liverpool need a goalscorer. Isak needs to show why he was worth £125m just a year ago, and rediscover the form that saw him score 62 goals in 109 games for Newcastle.
‘Alex is exciting,’ said Iraola when asked about Isak this week in Chicago. ‘He has come to pre-season in a good place, had a good World Cup, feeling comfortable. First training here, still early but I hope he can play against Leeds and have a proper pre-season. It is not long, but three or four weeks of quality training I hope and he is in a good place because he is going to be massive for us.’
There was emphasis on the word ‘massive’ and he is not wrong.
Robbie Fowler, who proved 183 times he knows how to score goals for this club, sat down with Daily Mail Sport earlier this week in New York City and told us why he is such a big fan of Isak – backing him to pay back the club’s huge investment.
‘I am a massive fan,’ Fowler tells us. ‘He is proven in the Premier League. For whatever reason, he turned up not fit or whether it was that he struggled to step up to a big club.
Robbie Fowler, who proved 183 times he knows how to score goals for this club, told us why he is such a big fan of Isak
I understand that both Isak and Florian Wirtz have been enjoying the intensity of Andoni Iraola’s new regime and are ready to step up
‘But I have no qualms with him. He is exciting. He will score goals. He will be a handful. Hopefully this is the season he kicks on. He got injured at the wrong time but I want him to come back fit and firing. He did OK in the World Cup but I want him to be ready at the start of the season rather than waiting months and months like last season.
‘If it was me, the price tag would not bother me. The players are focused on doing well, it is left to others to talk about money. Price tags are only one thing the clubs put on a player. For me, it would not bother me, whether that’s my mentality, I don’t know… some players don’t have that.
‘Alexander is world-class and the price tag won’t bother him either. He has everything in the locker, exciting when he drives with the ball, he makes things happen. He excites the fans which is imperative for a club like Liverpool.
‘Not only can he beat players, he can bring others into the game and he can score goals which is massive. He has other areas in his game which are impressive.’
Isak has been working hard on bulking up after a positive World Cup, in which he enjoyed playing in tandem with Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokeres for Sweden, and scored an impressive solo goal against Tunisia in the group stage.
Isak has rubbed shoulders with one of the best strikers of this generation, Robert Lewandowski, here in Chicago. The former Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona and Bayern Munich striker, now 37, recently moved to MLS club Chicago Fire having won eight Bundesligas, three La Ligas and a Champions League. He, like Isak, has been working hard in their gym here, which has personalised dumbbells.
The Swede has also been helpful to young strikers out here, such as teenagers Will Wright and Josh Sonni-Lambie.
Isak has been working hard on bulking up after a positive World Cup, in which he enjoyed playing in tandem with Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokeres (left) for Sweden
The Swede has also been helpful to young strikers out here, such as teenagers Will Wright (pictured) and Josh Sonni-Lambie
Six years, not six months – but now more than ever, it is time for Isak to step up
Iraola is keen for Isak to play as an out-and-out No 9, with Florian Wirtz playing as a traditional No 10 – close to the striker, unlike last season when he would often be instructed to drift out to the left.
At £241m, the duo – and Liverpool’s bank balance – cannot afford another year of adaptation. Neither can Iraola, who will be relying on the pair that ultimately let Slot down.
The Basque has been impressive in his opening weeks but cannot deliver success if the big-money duo do not start to look like the mega-money players they are.
Six years, not six months – but now more than ever, it is time for Isak to step up.
