What happened when Arne Slot met Alexander Isak for the first time | OneFootball

This is what happened when Alexander Isak encountered Arne Slot for the first time.

Right now all the focus is on what's going to happen. Liverpool want to sign Alexander Isak and he wants to join the Reds. The big obstacle in the way is Newcastle United.

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However, even the Magpies can't hold out forever. Isak has made his desire clear, and it doesn't seem like his desire will budge. Whether Liverpool can get him in now or perhaps in the January window is a question of when not if this deal happens.

There's no secret Liverpool have wanted this deal to happen for a long time. Michael Edwards and his recruitment team were huge advocates of Isak while he was at AIK in Sweden. Almost nine years ago, Edwards missed out on his signature to Borussia Dortmund.

Then when Liverpool needed to sign a new no.9 in 2022, the recruitment team pushed Jurgen Klopp to sign Isak. This time, it was decided to ultimately pursue a move for Darwin Nunez.

So, we know how the Liverpool recruitment team feels about Isak but what about Slot?

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It's actually a little known fact that the Liverpool head coach actually knows Isak quite well. Their history goes back over six years ago.

Back in the 2018/19 campaign, Isak was sent on loan to Willem II from Dortmund. This was a chance for a young forward to make his mark and one of his first appearances for his new side came against AZ Alkmaar in the Dutch cup.

At the time, Slot was working as an assistant coach to John van den Broom at Alkmaar. They faced Isak's side in the semi-final of the competition on the 28th February 2019.

The Swede would have a huge impact on this first meeting between the player and the coach.

Alkmaar took the lead through Calvin Stengs in the first-half. But in the second, Isak had a firm response. He was sent through on goal and buried it past Marco Bizot in the Alkmaar goal.

The game would end 1-1 with the tie heading to penalties to see who would qualify for the final. It was a stalemate until the final penalty.

Up stepped Isak, who calmly buried his spot kick in order to send Slot's side crashing out of the tournament.

A goal and a winning penalty. That will have been Slot's first impression of the man six years ago. After that game, Isak went onto score 11 goals in his next seven Eredivisie matches while registering four assists.

This would prove to be a catalyst in his career, allowing him to earn a move to Real Sociedad and then later Newcastle.

Slot must still have memories of that game and that season. He's managed two competitions now where Isak has dominated, and has also done well against him both for Willem II and for Newcastle.

So, he'll be aware of his quality, just like the recruitment team and perhaps that is why Liverpool are willing to spend so much on Isak, and why they have placed all their eggs in one basket.