Iraola’s pre-season could define Isak’s Liverpool career
Alexander Isak does not need anyone talking him up. What he needs is a straightforward pre-season, a settled body and a run of matches where he can actually build some rhythm, something he has not had since he arrived at Anfield. His first year under Arne Slot never really got going, undone first by a disrupted move and then by a serious injury, and now the reset comes under a new manager in Andoni Iraola. Few players in this squad need that fresh start more than he does.
This weekend in Chicago, Isak is set to wear the shirt for the first time since May. On paper that is a routine pre-season fixture. In reality, given everything that has gone wrong since his £125m arrival, it carries real weight. This was never going to be judged on hype or transfer fee talk. It always came down to whether Liverpool would eventually see the forward they actually paid for.
Remembering how messy last summer really was
It is worth rewinding to just how disruptive Isak’s exit from Newcastle actually was. He trained alone at his old club Real Sociedad after refusing to join Newcastle’s pre-season tour, a stand-off that left his old employers furious. A minor injury was the official line, but everyone understood what was really happening. He had decided he wanted out, largely because contract promises he felt he had been given never materialised, and he was not going to hide that.
The saga dragged on long enough that by the time the move to Liverpool finally happened, the season was already under way and he was miles off the physical pace of his new teammates. An international break landed almost immediately, with further breaks in October and November disrupting any chance of building momentum. Liverpool tried to manage him carefully through an individual fitness plan, but there was never a stretch long enough to actually build something from.
Then the injury, then the long road back
His first Premier League goal did not come until late November against West Ham, followed by a second in a win over Spurs in December. Then his season was effectively ended by a challenge from Micky van de Ven that broke his leg and required surgery on a fractured fibula. He was out until April, and with a World Cup approaching for Sweden soon after, the club understandably erred on the side of caution with his recovery. He did make Sweden’s squad, scored once and set up three more, which was solid without being the kind of statement Liverpool were hoping for after such a significant outlay.
That burden matters more now than it did a year ago. With Mohamed Salah gone as Liverpool’s most reliable source of goals for almost a decade, someone else has to pick that role up, and Isak is the obvious candidate. Iraola was open about it when asked in Chicago, describing Isak as being in a good place after a good World Cup and saying he hopes he can feature against Leeds and get a proper pre-season under his belt. The key line from Iraola was simple enough: he expects Isak to be a huge presence for this Liverpool side once he is up to speed.
The numbers say he can still be that player
Nobody seriously questions Isak’s ceiling. In his last two full seasons at Newcastle he scored 44 Premier League goals combined, showing genuine pace, ruthless finishing with either foot and the ability to run in behind or carry the ball himself. Liverpool have barely glimpsed that version of him yet, partly through bad luck and partly through the simple reality that missing a pre-season leaves any player playing catch-up, especially one adjusting to a new club and a new system.
What is different now is that, for the first time, Iraola gets to build Isak up properly from day one rather than trying to integrate him mid-crisis. A settled block of training, even a short one, should count for something after two years without it. There is a mental side to this too. Coming back from a fracture can leave a striker a fraction slow in his decision making for a while, and a clean summer plus public backing from his manager should help shift that.
Our take
On the fee, we would simply say this: none of it matters if the goals come. Robbie Fowler put it well recently, making the point that price tags are largely a distraction for the players themselves, and that Isak has enough quality and enough of an ability to excite supporters that the number attached to him should not weigh him down. We agree with that reading. Isak has never lacked talent. The only real questions have always been about fitness, consistency and whether he can carry a scoring load across a full season rather than in flashes.
This time around, at least, the circumstances are on his side. There is no late arrival to make up for, no improvised catch-up plan, just a clear job in front of him: stay fit, lead the line and get somewhere close to replacing what Salah used to give this team. If he manages that, this Liverpool side looks like a genuinely different proposition going into the season. If he does not, Liverpool are left with a very expensive gap at centre forward, and that is not a position anyone at the club wants to be discussing again in twelve months.