Liverpool manager Arne Slot on Friday referred to new signing Alexander Isak as “maybe the best striker in the world,” but cautioned that his integration into the team will be gradual due to a disrupted pre-season.
The Premier League champions acquired the Sweden forward from Newcastle on transfer deadline day for a British record fee of £125 million ($169 million), enhancing their already strong squad.
Isak’s arrival followed a prolonged pursuit and was part of a notable spending spree exceeding £400 million during the summer transfer window, although a late attempt to sign Crystal Palace and England defender Marc Guehi was unsuccessful.
“A lot of things happened on the last day (of the transfer window), which is not always the situation, because last season we hardly did anything during the whole window,” Slot noted. “But the thing that pleases me most, of course, is us getting the deal for Alex over the line.”
The Dutch manager commended Sweden coach Jon Dahl Tomasson for managing Isak’s workload during the international break.
The 25-year-old, who has not participated in club football this season, was available as a substitute for Sweden’s 2-2 World Cup qualifying draw against Slovenia and entered as a late substitute in the 2-0 loss to Kosovo.
“He gets one of the best, maybe the best striker in the world, and needs to play two very important games for his country, but understands that if he would play him twice for 90 minutes, then probably the player would have been injured,” Slot remarked. “And that’s not always easy for a manager, that he takes care of the interest of a player, so he deserves a big compliment for that. And we will treat Alex the same as they did, so don’t expect him to be every single game 90 minutes on the pitch.”
“That’s definitely not going to happen in the upcoming weeks. He missed a proper pre-season; I think he missed three or four months of team sessions, so now we have to build him up gradually, with us playing so many games, hardly any training time.”
Alexander Isak criticism
Arne Slot, discussing Sunday’s match against Burnley, dismissed criticism directed at Isak after he expressed a desire to leave Newcastle, where he had three more years remaining on his contract.
“Sometimes people cheer for you, so I think after he won the League Cup (trophy last season), everyone was really happy with him,” he stated.
“And in other moments you get criticised — this is part of his life, my life, our jobs. Now he’s a player for us and I’m really happy with that.”
Slot, whose team has won all three of their Premier League matches so far this season, acknowledged his interest in signing Guehi but declined to comment on any future offers.
“I think it would be a bit ridiculous if I’m going to deny that we were close to signing him,” he said. “That’s so out in the open, that would be ridiculous.”
“These things happen in football; it happened to our players maybe in the past as well, that they thought they were so close on signing somewhere else, and then in the last moment things changed.”
Arne Slot, who is pursuing a record 21st English league title with Liverpool, mentioned that he has alternatives in defense.
“It’s a pity, not only for us but also for the player, I think,” he remarked. “But he’s in a good place playing at Palace, where he won the Community Shield and the FA Cup, with a very good manager as well. So let’s see what the future brings for him and for us.”
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