Arne Slot’s Liverpool broke the Premier League transfer record twice over the summer of 2025, first by signing Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen, and then they coughed up £125 million for Sweden sharpshooter Alexander Isak on Deadline Day after a long, drawn-out saga. But how are those inside the Reds feeling about the 26-year-old?
There was never a guarantee that Isak would join Slot and his entourage on the red half of Merseyside; his former employers, Newcastle United, were playing hardball despite his willingness to move onto pastures new. His wish was granted in the concluding stages of the window, and he’s notched a goal and assist apiece since.
For the Magpies, Isak was a guarantee of goals. In 109 outings, he plundered 62 strikes and an additional 11 assists – and in the 2024/25 campaign alone, he scored 27 goals across all competitions. His start to life for Liverpool hasn’t been as rampant, of course, but are those inside the club happy with the ex-Borussia Dortmund hitman?
How Liverpool Feel About Isak Revealed Since Record Summer Move
Slot – widely regarded as one of the best managers in world football – and Co also spent big on Hugo Ekitike in the summer months and having the two bounce off one another has been one of the reigning champions’ biggest issues this term. That’s despite many believing that adding both strikers would see them retain their status as champions with relative ease.
Yet to score in the Premier League for the Reds, Isak has been slow out of the traps and, realistically, the Anfield faithful are yet to see him in full flow.
Since moving from Newcastle to Liverpool, the rangy centre-forward managed to score in a 2-1 victory against Southampton in the League Cup – but his lack of pre-season is certainly playing its part in his slow start to proceedings. Despite not being up to speed, The Athletic have revealed the club’s consensus over their record signing is positive.
Liverpool correspondent Andy Jones, speaking on The Athletic FC podcast, claimed the common feeling around Isak is that he is applying himself to fitness programmes to get him up to speed. “I mean, the main thing is that they’ve been playing him, ultimately, because they could have sort of fed him in. But they’ve tried to give him as much football as possible,” he said.
Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk, who has been on the receiving end of Isak’s brilliance over the years, has been cited as being central to the infancy of Isak’s spell under Slot.
“I think the general feeling is he settled well. You know, he’s got on with the group of players. I think [Virgil] van Dijk’s been quite important in trying to help him settle. And, you know, he threw himself into the fitness program that Liverpool set up for him to try and get him up to speed as quickly as possible.”
By virtue of what he’s proven for former clubs – Newcastle and Real Sociedad, in particular – means that Liverpool will soon bear the fruits of their lofty outlay over the summer. When Isak is fully fit, firing on all cylinders and has struck a partnership with Wirtz, Mohamed Salah and the like, he’ll return to being one of the Premier League’s leading marksmen for sure.
In the meantime, Liverpool may resort to utilising Ekitike in their solitary centre-forward berth. Silky yet prolific, the Frenchman has eight starts in all competitions since the 2025/26 season got underway – and, in that time, he’s plundered seven goal contributions. That included a goal in a 5-1 win over his former side, Eintracht Frankfurt, in the Champions League.