Arne Slot has made it clear he has no concerns about Alexander Isak ever attempting to force his way out of Liverpool, as the Reds prepare to unveil their record signing for the first time this weekend.
The Swedish international completed a £125 million move from Newcastle United on deadline day, becoming the most expensive player in British football history. It was the culmination of a summer-long saga that saw the striker take drastic steps to push through an exit from St James’ Park.
Isak refused to travel with Newcastle on their pre-season tour of the Far East in July, citing a minor injury. Weeks later, he was spotted using the training facilities of his former club Real Sociedad without permission from Newcastle officials, angering Eddie Howe and leading to his banishment from first-team activities.
The situation reached breaking point in August when, just hours after being named in the PFA Team of the Year, Isak released a lengthy statement on his social media channels accusing Newcastle of “broken promises and lost trust.” He did not attend the awards event in Manchester where his inclusion was confirmed.
By then, Liverpool were deep in negotiations and, on August 31, struck an agreement for an eye-watering fee. Isak passed his medical the following day before heading off on international duty with Sweden, where he made his first appearance since May in a 2-0 defeat to Kosovo earlier this week.
It was an extraordinary route to Anfield, but Slot insists he has no concerns that the striker could resort to similar tactics in the future if he were ever to push for a move away.
“No, not at all,” the Liverpool head coach said. “It is not necessary at our club because we also trade players. If a player wants to leave and we get the right money for him then this club has shown for so many years now that we then do sell. At this club it is not necessary at all to go on strike. I think it will have the opposite effect.”
Slot pointed to the professionalism of those who left Anfield this summer as evidence of Liverpool’s approach.
“You can keep on training here and Harvey Elliott gets his transfer (to Aston Villa), Tyler Morton gets his transfer (to Lyon). There were maybe eight, nine, ten players in the last window who just conducted themselves in the best possible way and we are a club that is trading,” he explained.
“So maybe write this down for every agent that has a player here: it is not necessary. If the right price is paid by the right club for the right player then this club has shown we always do sell because we need this to get our players in. That is different. That is a very positive thing at this club: you get your transfer if everyone is happy.”
For now, Liverpool’s focus is on carefully integrating their new No 9. Isak has played just 18 minutes of competitive football since May and is unlikely to start Sunday’s game against Burnley. But Slot has no doubts about the quality of his new forward.
“At this moment in time, he isn’t [the best striker in the world] — for the simple reason he has been out for four months,” he said. “If you write I said he is not the best in the world, you have to add that [bit] 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.”
Liverpool’s decision to break their transfer record for Isak also represented a slight departure from the recruitment blueprint they had followed earlier in the summer. The focus had largely been on younger players such as Florian Wirtz, but Isak’s proven Premier League pedigree made him a unique case.
“I think there are many reasons [why we signed him] but one that maybe stands out for me is that he has already shown this in the Premier League,” Slot explained. “He is a little bit older than the rest — still quite young but a bit older — and showed himself in the Premier League.
“We know that if he stays fit, he will be able to score goals for us. What he adds as well is enormous pace and he can score with both feet, with his head, all these kinds of things, that he has already done this in the Premier League is of course something extra.”
The size of the deal inevitably increases scrutiny, but Slot brushed off suggestions that it heaps additional pressure on him or the player.
“It might put pressure on him and me but nothing extra,” he said. “If you have this [Liverpool badge] on your shirt there is always pressure. If we wouldn’t have signed him, you would probably have told me that you still expect us to compete for the league, which is what we expect from ourselves, so this pressure is always there.”
Liverpool’s owners have shown a willingness to sanction major deals when the right player is identified. Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker were both world-record signings for their positions when they arrived, and Slot compared Isak’s transfer to those landmark moves.
“In terms of the money spent for one player, that is also part of our model. It is not the first time we have done this,” Slot said. “We did it when I was not there, the ownership did this with Virgil, with Alisson and now with Florian Wirtz as well. This is the model we use.
“We target a player and we want to have him. We decide what his value is, if that matches with what the club wants then we are not afraid to act. We get that money from trading players and winning the league after we didn’t spend anything at all.”
Isak now begins the next chapter of his career with the Premier League champions. His ability is unquestioned, his fee historic, and the expectations enormous. Slot knows he cannot rush his new striker, but the belief inside Liverpool is that their record investment will soon repay them.
