Liverpool waited for Alexander Isak. All summer in a saga that was tiresome long before it was eventually over. But they have carried on waiting since then. They have had their record signing in the No 9 shirt, seen him on the pitch for 311 minutes, spread over six appearances. But not the real Isak.
He has been semi-fit, substitute and substituted, but not the lithe, lacerating and lethal force that prompted Liverpool to pay some £125m for him. Now, Arne Slot believes, they could see the player who broke transfer records and, in his Newcastle days, often served as the elegant destroyer of defences.
“I think now he has had his five, six weeks of pre-season which is normal for every player – especially if you have been out for three or four months,” said Slot; the unspoken element being that Isak was sidelined not by injury but by choice, by going on strike to force a move from Newcastle, by depriving himself of sharpness in the process. “Fitness-wise he is close to the level he should be and we can judge him in a fair way from now on.”
If the verdicts so far have not been entirely flattering, Slot feels more telling assessments can begin; starting with Manchester United’s visit to Anfield on Sunday. “I used the word ‘judge’ but I don’t mean judge,” he added. “The outside world can from now on say we have the one we signed, that is better so the first five or six weeks. Of course we had the player we signed but he was not completely ready yet. He was just getting fitter and fitter but had to do this in a Premier League game. This is not normal for a player.”
Which, once again, reflects some of the choices Isak made during a tug of war. In theory, Liverpool won it. Newcastle felt losers at the time but Nick Woltemade, their last-minute Isak replacement, already has four goals. The Swede’s lone strike for Liverpool came in the Carabao Cup against a Southampton side then languishing 19th in the Championship.
Isak also has an assist, for Cody Gakpo at Chelsea, that was either brilliant or fortunate, depending upon interpretation. He has played in three consecutive defeats, the worst run of Slot’s reign. Whereas Hugo Ekitike, Liverpool’s other striking signing, made a flying start, Isak’s impact has been negligible.
Some 216 players have had a shot on target in the Premier League this season. They do not include the £125m forward. He has at least worked goalkeepers in the Champions League, but without delivering the decisive impact. Sweden have also suffered from the Isak impasse in the summer, going goalless in the back-to-back defeats to Switzerland and Kosovo that imperil their hopes of reaching the World Cup. Perhaps, had he been sharper sooner, that would have been different.
Slot has other concerns but Liverpool’s campaign is more than two months old and their flagship buy is just about ready to begin in earnest. “His pre-season has maybe finished now,” said the Dutchman. “Ideally you would use him earlier in a friendly match so we had to build him up playing Premier League matches and I think you have to be on top of your game to make a difference at this level. You can play at this level if you are maybe 80 or 90 or 95 percent but if you want to make a difference at the highest level of football then you need to be 100 percent. It goes for every player and I think I can safely say he is 100 percent now.”
And so, finally, he could see what he paid so much for. Top of Slot’s wish list is the most obvious element of all. “Goals,” he said. “That is the most simple thing.” Isak ranked in the top three scorers in the Premier League last season, averaging one every 119 minutes. Over three seasons at Newcastle, he scored from almost one every other shot on target. “If you are a No 9 at Liverpool, you need to score goals but that is what he has always done in his life,” added Slot. “The only thing he needs to be is fit.” And fit enough to close defenders down. “To be the leader in pressing from our front three, there we can improve as well, that is something he needs to do but Hugo the same,” his manager said.
Ekitike adds to the intrigue of the Isak equation. Many a manager has two specialist strikers; few have two of such calibre and cost. Because Isak has not been ready to complete games, because Ekitike has served a ban, thus far Slot has alternated between them. When the Swede came on against Galatasaray, the Frenchman moved to the left. “Yeah, for two minutes,” smiled Slot.
It does not explain how both will be accommodated; will it always be one on the pitch and the other on the bench? “Could be,” Slot said. “At every other club it is like that so but we could play them both.” The question of when to, and how, beckons because if Isak returns to anything resembling his best for the first time since spring, he would seem indispensable.
Thus far, he has proved expensive but largely ineffectual. “I have said many times we have signed him for six years,” said Slot. Isak’s first six weeks have not yielded much. The next six years have to deliver rather more.