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.
