Why Liverpool need to be patient before Alexander Isak plan is revealed | OneFootball

Arne Slot has spent £125m on a striker who, right now, he admits is not the finest in the global game. This was not Slot showing some buyer’s remorse after the most expensive purchase in the history of English football, or doubting Alexander Isak’s quality. Nor was it an attempt to put a new signing in his place, a 21st-century equivalent of Brian Clough breaking the British transfer record for Trevor Francis and then getting the £1m man to make the tea for the team.

Rather, it reflected the way Isak has been, for many, the wrong kind of striker of late; the player who withdrew his labour to force Newcastle to sell him. Slot is confident there will be no repeat at Anfield. But as Isak prepares for a probable Liverpool debut at Burnley on Sunday, the Dutchman is warning his deadline-day recruit is not ready to play 90 minutes every match. He has only featured for 18, as a substitute for Sweden against Kosovo, since May.

So when Slot was asked if Isak is the game’s outstanding centre-forward now, he qualified his answer. “One of them,” he said. “At this moment in time, he isn’t, for the simple reason he has been out for four months. If you write I said he is not the best in the world, you have to add that [bit] or it is not completely fair because he is one of the best in the world. But for him to become the best in the world, the best players in the world win trophies and that is what he and we need to do for him, or someone else, to be seen as the best or one of the best.”

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Liverpool have ‘future-proofed’ their squad by spending £125m on Isak (Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

It might be part of Isak’s rationale for trading Tyneside for Merseyside. He helped Newcastle win their first major silverware since the 1960s, a Carabao Cup triumph coming at Liverpool’s expense, but his only honours are domestic cups in Germany, Spain and England. Isak could argue ambition drove him out of St James’ Park. Newcastle might say he made his own position at the club untenable, missing a pre-season tour, not training with the team, remaining unavailable for selection; that he became a different sort of striker are reasons he begins his Liverpool career short of match sharpness.

Slot professed himself unworried by Isak’s antics. He does not foresee a repeat at Anfield. His explanation could reflect the reality that Liverpool are nearer the top of the footballing food chain than Newcastle, or could rile the Magpies. They had adopted a stance that Isak was not for sale. Slot argued that Liverpool’s approach makes everything more harmonious, that relationships do not deteriorate to such an extent.

“It is not necessary at our club because we also trade players,” said Slot. “If a player wants to leave and we get the right money for him, then this club has shown for so many years now that we then do sell. At this club, it is not necessary at all to go on strike. I think it will have the opposite effect. You can keep on training here and Harvey [Elliott] gets his transfer, Tyler Morton gets his transfer.” So did Luis Diaz, so did Darwin Nunez. Neither went on strike. Each left on better terms.

“There were maybe eight, nine or 10 players in the last window who just conducted themselves in the best possible way and we are a club that is trading, so maybe write this down for every agent that has a player here, it is not necessary,” Slot added. “If the right price is paid by the right club for the right player, then this club has shown we always do sell because we need this to get our players in. That is different.”

And Liverpool did want Isak; when Newcastle rejected a £110m bid, when the days ticked down in the window, at the times when a deal felt unlikely. Their focus never changed. Slot had his rationale. “Many reasons, but one that maybe stands out for me is that he has already shown this in the Premier League,” he said. “We know that if he stays fit, he will be able to score goals for us. What he adds as well is enormous pace and he can score with both feet, with his head.” They have, he said, “future-proofed” their squad by largely signing young, created their own budget by bringing in more than £200m in sales.

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Isak could make his Liverpool debut at Burnley on Sunday (Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

And yet choosing to spend £125m of it on Isak was a statement. One in keeping with the club’s recent history and identity, Slot suggested, highlighting the £65m signing of Alisson Becker and the £75m deal for Virgil van Dijk. “That is also part of our model,” explained Slot. “It is not the first time we have done this. The ownership did this with Virgil, with Ali and now with Florian [Wirtz] as well.”

If the goals don’t flow, Isak’s still bigger fee has the potential to be a millstone for him and Slot alike; a manager who won the Premier League without spending now has a record buy. “It might put pressure on him and me but nothing extra, but if [you] have this on your shirt,” said Slot, pointing to the club badge, “there is always pressure.”

Still more, perhaps, when a player is charged with becoming the best striker in the world. But if Isak has been hired because of his ruthlessness, Liverpool displayed theirs when pursuing their particular goal. “We target a player and we want to have him,” said Slot. “We decide what his value is, if that matches with what the club wants, then we are not afraid to act.”