Alexander Isak is set to miss “a couple of months” after undergoing surgery on a broken leg though Arne Slot insists the British transfer record holder will be back before the end of his debut season at Liverpool.
Isak’s leg and ankle were damaged as he scored the opening goal in Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Tottenham on Saturday, just his third since arriving at the club from Newcastle for $175 million in September. “It’s going to be a long injury, for a couple of months,” said Slot of Isak’s injury. “That’s a big, big disappointment for him and as a result of course also for us.”
The Liverpool manager did however say he was “confident” that Isak would be back before the end of the season. Such a timeline, however, suggests that the 26-year-old’s availability for Sweden’s World Cup play offs in late March is in major doubt, which begin away to Ukraine. It also heightens the sense that year one with the third most expensive signing in history has been a borderline write off for Liverpool, who struggled to get Isak fit after a preseason that he spent on strike in an attempt to maneuver his way out of St. James’ Park. Since joining Isak has played 16 times, logging just 777 minutes and scoring three times with one further assist.
“It’s been a really challenging and difficult period for him, I think,” said Slot. “You join a new club and usually when you join a new club you are, and he was of course, very excited and you want to show immediately all the qualities you have but that was simply impossible.
“Maybe no-one understands, but if you haven’t trained for three or four months on a serious level with the team and you’re playing in this league…in this league you need to be on the top of your game to impact a game of football. That took, which we all knew, months before we could bring him there because there was no preseason, there were games, games, games.
“We had hardly any time to train, so we always knew that it would take him time and that’s why he is so unlucky that he is now injured because I think we all saw with his goal against West Ham, with this goal [against Tottenham], that he got closer and closer to the player he was at Newcastle.”
Do Liverpool need reinforcements to cope without Isak?
The loss of their No.9 at a time when they are already without Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo will only enhance the pressure on those above Slot to strengthen a squad that, despite huge investment in the summer, looks to be light right across it. Given the form of Ekitike and the potential imminent availability of Gakpo, who like Conor Bradley Slot rated as “50:50” to be available for the game against Wolverhampton Wanderers on December 27, Liverpool might not need a like for like replacement for Isak. However, it was apparent even before the injury that both quality and depth were missing from this team.
For now Slot’s focus is elsewhere. “My first and only thoughts are on the upcoming two games, two difficult ones, two home games. It’s a time for the players we do have available for the players we do have available to do what they have done so many times, roll their sleeves up, not only our players but our fans to help us get the results we want in the upcoming two games. The players that are available need to give everything they have.”
Those above him will need to do the same in the transfer market. Liverpool are among the Premier League clubs in the mix for Antoine Semenyo, whose $87.8 million release clause can be activated by January 10. Manchester United and Manchester City are also targeting the Ghana international, who has eight goals and three assists in the Premier League this season. Semenyo has played off both flanks for Bournemouth and filled in at center forward, a level of versatility that would be very valuable given that in the immediate term the 25-year-old might have to plug gaps around the likes of Salah and Ekitike.
Equally if anyone should be aware that Semenyo’s actual output is quite a way ahead of his expected it will be Michael Edwards. Semenyo might be scoring and assisting at a better rate than last season but his combined non-penalty expected goals and expected assists have dropped from 0.4 per 90 Premier League minutes to 0.35. At such a high price, Liverpool might be inclined to look for bargains elsewhere as they did with the likes of Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino. The Reds are believed to hold an interest in FC Midtjylland forward Franculino Dju, though the 21-year-old might be more of a project investment.
Perhaps the most obvious quick would be to bring Harvey Elliott back from a loan spell at Aston Villa that has not transpired as expected. Elliott signed on a season long loan in the summer, one that would become a $47.3 million permanent move when he played 10 games. The 22-year-old has been stuck on five since October with Unai Emery intent on finding a “solution” for a player who under FIFA rules cannot play for another club having already appeared for Liverpool this season.
Elliott also struggled for game time under Slot last season and the Liverpool boss appeared to dismiss the option of recalling the versatile attacker, saying: “Harvey is an Aston Villa player and he is supposed to be going there for a year. If the question is about him, the best thing to ask is at Villa, who are doing quite well by the way.”
He would, however, provide a cost free option for a club who might feel they have not rounded out their squad as much as they might like, given the amount spent in that Isak-headlined summer.
