Alexander Isak will be a “different player” for Liverpool when he returns from injury, Arne Slot has insisted.
The £125million striker has endured a miserable first season on Merseyside, scoring just three Premier League goals in 20 appearances before suffering a broken leg in December.
Asked for an update on the player’s recovery, Slot said: “Alex has been on the pitch with his running shoes for the first time this week so it will still be a while,” Slot told reporters on Thursday.
He added: "It will be somewhere around the international break, depends on if he gets a setback. End of March, start of April when he's back with the group. Doesn't mean he's ready to start playing straight away.”
Isak struggled with match fitness during the opening weeks and months of his time with Liverpool, having gone on strike at Newcastle to force a summer exit.
Slot has previously defended Isak, insisting it is his Liverpool tactics which are not getting the best out of the most expensive player in British football history.
But the Reds manager is confident the Sweden star will be a player transformed when he is back from injury in April.
"It's not before they go on the pitch they are in bed 24 hours a day,” Slot continued. “But it's nice for him to go on the pitch and nice to see him there.
“You do know you're in your final stages of rehab. Next step is of course doing work with the ball and then going into the group and it takes a while before you're ready to play. It's nice that rehab has gone well, compliment to him and our medical staff.”
Asked if Isak needs a proper pre-season under his belt to rediscover his best form, Slot agreed: “It will give us a different player to we had now but we're expecting a different player at the end of this season compared to what he has done up to now.
"Unfortunately for him and us we haven't seen the best Alex. We will next season.
"We all know the moment you go on to the pitch it doesn't take three months anymore (to be back). But these final stages it can change. Let's not put a timescale on it but it's clear he will be available if things go as planned this season."
