Arne Slot has explained why British transfer record signing Alexander Isak is not in the Liverpool squad for the Premier League clash against Burnley.
The Premier League champions return to action following the international break by heading to Turf Moor to take on Scott Parker’s Clarets.
Liverpool have a 100% record after playing three matches so far in the English top flight and will be aiming to maintain that with victory over the Clarets, who have been promoted back to the Premier League.
Many Reds fans might have been hoping that deadline day signing Isak would play some part in the encounter at Turf Moor following his £125m move from Newcastle United.
The signing of Isak capped off a spending spree of more than £400m at Anfield as Slot revamped the Liverpool squad which won the title last season.
Isak’s future was the main transfer saga of the summer as the striker sought to move away from Newcastle after three years at the North East club following a move from Real Sociedad in 2022.
Sweden international Isak scored 62 goals in 109 games at St James’ Park, but did not take part in Newcastle’s pre-season tour and trained separately from his team-mates as his future remained undecided.
Isak eventually got the move he desired and became the third most expensive football player in history, behind Neymar and Kylian Mbappe following their transfers from Barcelona and Monaco to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017.
But Isak is not involved in the matchday squad in Lancashire this afternoon as Slot revealed to Sky Sports the reason for this being the lack of minutes and training the striker has had during pre-season.
Liverpool play Atletico Madrid on Wednesday evening in the Champions League and take on Everton at Anfield for the Merseyside Derby next Saturday lunchtime as they play three games in seven days.
Though not involved today, Slot confirmed Isak will play some part on Wednesday evening against Atleti after the game at Turf Moor came too soon for the striker with his current fitness levels.
He said: “Not today. As everybody knew, he didn’t have any team training at Newcastle. He then went to the national team and only played there for 15-20 minutes, and we think with a week where we play three games in seven days, this is the best lead-up for him to be available against Atletico Madrid.
“We’ve decided it is the best for him to have a proper week of training instead of every time going for five or 10 minutes of playing. I can assure the fans that he will be involved on Wednesday [against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League] – but this game came a bit too early.”