Fears raised that Alexander Isak may miss rest of season as report names four strikers Liverpool could sign | OneFootball

Liverpool have confirmed that Alexander Isak has undergone surgery after a leg fracture sustained at Tottenham on Saturday, and amid new fears over the length of time the Swede faces on the sidelines, the Reds have been tipped to sign one of four short-term replacements.

Isak has endured a difficult time of things since forcing through a British record £130m (€150m, $175m) transfer to Anfield from Newcastle on September 1, struggling to hit both top form and full fitness in the intervening months. For a split second on Saturday, it looked like the tide was about to turn when he smartly finished to score Liverpool‘s opener at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, only for the striker to go down with injury at the precise same moment and under a challenge from Micky van de Ven.

Now, in a statement, Liverpool have confirmed that Isak has undergone surgery to repair the fracture, though they are setting no timescale on his potential return.

A club statement read: “After diagnosis, an operation was completed today [Monday] on an ankle injury that included a fibula fracture.

“Isak’s rehabilitation will now continue at the AXA Training Centre, with no timeframe yet placed on his return.”

The common consensus is that Isak faces a few months out, keeping him on the sidelines until mid-to-late March.

However, one pundit has explained why the injury could effectively do him for the rest of the season and it may now be next August before Liverpool see the player back in club colours.

“I don’t think he [Isak] plays again this season,” Gabriel Agbonlahor said on talkSPORT.

“I just looked at the injury, and I’ve seen that happen before, where his leg got tangled. That’s a broken leg that is.

“That’s a long time out, that is – you don’t always come back the same either.”

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Liverpool draw up list of Isak replacements – but could old hero help out?

Meanwhile, a report in the Daily Mail has highlighted five strikers that Liverpool could sign as a temporary replacement for Isak and to see them through however long the 26-year-old is sidelined.

Hugo Ekitike will obviously benefit the most from Isak’s absence, although beyond that, Liverpool do lack quality cover.

And the five strikers they list as viable market opportunities are Ivan Toney, Dusan Vlahovic, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Danny Welbeck and Endrick.

Of that quintet, one of them – Real Madrid star Endrick – has been taken off the menu after it was revealed he would be leaving the Bernabeu to spend the rest of the season at Lyon.

However, three of the other four do boast Premier League experience and all boast excellent records in front of goal down the years.

The 35-year-old Welbeck would only represent short-term cover, while Vlahovic is out of contract in the summer so could be available for a cut-price fee.

However,  Toney plays in Saudi Arabia and Mitrovic in Qatar, meaning the Reds would not be able to match their colossal wages.

One new option that could present itself though is former Liverpool striker Divock Origi, who, by some small quirk of fate, has been made a free agent on Monday evening after agreeing a contract termination at AC Milan.

Confirming the information, Fabrizio Romano posted on X: ‘Divock Origi, available as a free agent from January, as he’s just signed his contract termination at AC Milan. 30-year-old striker was out of the AC Milan squad and project since the summer 2024.’

Origi previously played for Liverpool between 2015 and 2022, scoring 41 times in 175 appearances.

Off the back of Isak’s injury, sources have revealed that FSG are now ready to make it crystal clear to Mohamed Salah that he will not be allowed to leave Anfield in January.

The Reds wanted to keep the unsettled star anyway, but the injury to the Swede has now ensured that is a cast-iron plan coming out of the club’s Boston headquarters.

Despite that, a football finance expert claims the Reds are ready to sell Salah come the summer and has named the price they would be ‘happy’ to accept to draw a difficult recent period to a close.