Arne Slot calls for patience as £125m striker prepared to make his debut
Liverpool manager Arne Slot has warned fans not to expect Alexander Isak to go into the starting XI straightaway, following the striker’s record-breaking move from Newcastle United.
The Premier League champions completed the signing of Isak for £125m on deadline day, ending a long-running pursuit that dominated much of the summer. However, the Sweden international missed preseason and is currently three games behind other Premier League players in terms of fitness.
His only appearance in a football match since the season ended in May was a 20-minute cameo for Sweden against Kosovo in the World Cup qualifiers earlier this week.
“Don’t expect [Isak] to be playing every single game 90 minutes on the pitch as that is definitely not going to happen in the upcoming weeks,” said Slot.
“He missed a proper preseason, I think he missed three or four months of team sessions, and so now we have to build him up gradually, with us playing so many games, hardly any training time.
“So that’s going to be a challenge, but we’ve signed him not only for the upcoming two weeks, we’ve signed him for six years, so, yeah, this is what we have to keep in mind.
“And what the fans have to keep in mind, if they see that I take him off at a certain moment, or I only bring him in for a small amount of minutes, that’s all for the long-term fitness of the team.”
