Liverpool get Alexander Isak fitness update with forward on Sweden international duty

Liverpool paid £125m to make Alexander Isak the most expensive player in British football history.

The Sweden striker switched to Anfield from Newcastle on deadline day - concluding one of the summer’s biggest transfer sagas.

Isak, 26, played no part in the Magpies’ preseason campaign - electing not to travel to Asia for the club’s tour before training alone at Real Sociedad’s facilities before the season’s start.

And the forward then sat out Eddie Howe’s side’s opening Premier League fixtures - effectively placing himself on strike until a move to Liverpool was agreed.

Isak still working his way to match fitness

Eventually sporting director Richard Hughes came up with the funds required for Newcastle to do business. Isak signed but immediately flew off with Sweden for international duty.

Those September FIFA World Cup qualification fixtures showed just how rusty Isak was - playing only 20 minutes across two matches.

He is expected to play a bit more football for his national side during the current international window as he seeks to build up his fitness.

Isak has played six times for Liverpool already - scoring once - but still looks some way short of his best.

Isak struggling for involvement

He touched the ball only FOUR times after appearing as a second-half substitute in the Champions League defeat to Galatasaray and Arne Slot has not been able to fully count on his quality.

Initially it was reckoned that Isak would be fully fit by the middle of October - with the club facing Manchester United at Old Trafford following the international break.

But one Liverpool insider has revealed that it will take Isak a LOT longer than that before he’s back to himself. Lewis Steele believes it could be well through November before the Reds’ record signing is firing on all cylinders.

Road to fitness longer than predicted

“The road to full fitness is a little longer than we expected or predicted,” he told his YouTube audience.

“I saw a report from one of the Newcastle guys—can’t remember who it was—basically saying they expected it to be three months before Alexander Isak is fully fit.

“That’s probably about right in reality. He’s been at Liverpool for four or five weeks, so maybe we’re another three or four weeks off seeing Isak at his best.

“There have been glimpses—loved the assist on Saturday—and he got his goal against Southampton; he had to be in the right place at the right time.

“But the road to full fitness does just seem a bit bumpier than we and Slot predicted.”

Isak scored 23 times for Newcastle in the Premier League last season - earning a place in the PFA team of the year. There is no doubting the striker’s qualities - it’s just that Liverpool fans will perhaps have to be very patient as he works his way back to his best.

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