Arne Slot sent a few WhatsApp messages to Alexander Isak over the international break and, though we are sadly not privy to those conversations, one likes to imagine them as similar to a concerned parent and child.
‘Go careful, Alex,’ they might have read. Instead of the ‘don’t drink too much’ mothers may send to young sons going on a foreign trip, the football equivalent may have been ‘don’t go playing too much football while on international duty.’
Although former Feyenoord boss Slot would often spend nights sitting in a parked car, hat on and head down in Amsterdam to avoid detection while waiting for his daughter to finish at a music gig before driving her home, he is not normally the sort to worry too much about things he cannot control.
But we can forgive the boss for fearing that his new star striker was to suffer a fitness blow on international duty.
Luckily, Isak gave Slot his wish, to which end the Liverpool boss also sent his regards to Sweden boss Jon Dahl Tomasson, the former Premier League striker, for going easy on the most expensive individual asset in British football history.
Isak, all £125million of him, had not kicked a ball for three and a half months before his 18-minute cameo for the Swedes in Kosovo on Monday night. It is not quite ‘wrap him in cotton wool’ territory but the first chapter of his Liverpool career will be rather lowkey.
Arne Slot has welcomed his newest recruit to the Liverpool squad after returning from the international break
Alexander Isak is expected to be in the Liverpool squad for the Reds’ trip to Burnley on Sunday
The truth is, the first week has been a bit of a non-event. He is expected to be in the squad for today’s trip to Burnley but TV channels using him to advertise that game are misleading viewers.
Instead, Isak’s fitness will be managed carefully after a period which he was on strike for Newcastle, refusing to or banned from x- whichever way you want to look at it — Eddie Howe’s training sessions.
The last Reds player to miss a full pre-season was Federico Chiesa last year, when he was jettisoned from Juventus’s summer by then-boss Thiago Motta. The Italian played just 27 league minutes last term at Liverpool and has been left out of this year’s Champions League squad.
For £10m, that does not matter too much — especially when Slot’s men stormed to the Premier League title in his absence. For £125m, though… well, given the way the narrative-hungry media work in this country, a slow start will have Isak labelled all sorts.
Liverpool and Slot have to balance all the pressure that comes with the price-tag with the fact that Isak simply is not fit to play more than 20 or so minutes yet. Another concern is that, since they play three games in the next seven days, there is simply no time on the training pitch.
Today it’s Turf Moor, Monday will be a recovery session, Tuesday will be a very light training session of around 35 minutes and then Wednesday they welcome Atletico Madrid in the Champions League. On Saturday, it is the small matter of the Merseyside Derby.
There is no time in that schedule for rest or for Slot and his backroom team to lead any meaningful tactical-led sessions on the training field. With that in mind, it is not realistic to expect too much too soon from Isak.
But one thing Slot told the new striker should be remembered: Liverpool are not signing him for the next fortnight, they have bought him for the next six years. Even if he scores zero goals this side of Halloween, they still believe they have pulled off one of the coups of the transfer window.
Isak’s fitness will be managed carefully after a period which he was on strike for Newcastle
‘One of’ because the transfer team think the same about Florian Wirtz, who they signed for £116m.
Asked if Isak is the best striker in the world, Slot said: ‘At this moment in time, he isn’t… for the simple reason he has been out for four months. If you write that I said he is not the best in the world, you have to add that or it is not completely fair because he is one of the best in the world.
‘But for him to become the best in the world, I think the best players in the world win trophies and that is what he and we need to do for him, or someone else, to be seen as the best or one of the best.’
The 26-year-old is doing all in his power to be fully fit as soon as possible, though. He reported to the AXA Training Centre two days earlier than required.
While most of those who went away to international camps only reported back on Friday, Isak was in the building on Wednesday.
He trained with the Under 21s that day, a session that also involved fellow summer signing Jeremie Frimpong, Joe Gomez and Federico Chiesa who are all returning to full fitness after injuries. He has also been put through his paces with intense gym sessions.
Isak met the bulk of his team-mates on Friday morning and shared a laugh with big-hitters such as Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk in the coffee bar, a new room at the training base last season to promote team camaraderie. It clearly worked.
The 26-year-old got his first minutes of the season in Sweden’s 2-0 defeat by Kosovo on Monday night
He joins the retooled Premier League champions as they look to extend their perfect start to the campaign
Liverpool’s media team have also been racking up the social hits with constant pictures and video content of Isak, all of which have been doing extraordinary numbers. They know what they are doing – fans cannot get enough of their shiny new signing.
But for now, those fans will have to put long-term gain over their short-term dreams of seeing Isak pull on the Liverpool shirt (they will wear their new green third kit on Sunday). Following the gist of what Slot said, Isak is not for Christmas, he is for six years.
And with him at the helm and German superstar Wirtz in behind, plus talisman Salah and skipper Van Dijk still the poster-boys despite the new faces, the chances of those aforementioned six years being trophy-laden have shot up significantly.
