Alexander Isak’s summer feud with Newcastle United is said to be affecting Liverpool as well, as the Swedish striker struggles to regain full fitness. His record-breaking move to Anfield dominated the headlines over the summer. Isaac took to social media to deny the Magpies tools, claiming Eddie Howe’s side had “broken their promises”.
Liverpool, who missed pre-season training and the opening game of the season, ended up paying £125 million for a player who lacked the fitness to complete 90 minutes at the start of the season. After eight appearances for the Reds, Isak was left out of Liverpool’s squad for the game against Brentford due to a groin problem.
Former Blackburn Rovers striker Chris Sutton believes this is due to the forward choosing not to tool up during his final spell at Newcastle.
Sutton wrote in his column for BBC Sport: “What happened to him feels like you reap what you sow. Isak lacked full fitness, especially sharpness, all season anyway.”
“He couldn’t help himself there by missing training at Newcastle in an attempt to force a move to Anfield.
“He got what he wanted, but now he’s had time off so he’s trying to play catch-up instead of working his hardest, and that’s when injuries can happen.
“Isak is too good of a player to not end up scoring goals, but this whole situation is also affecting Liverpool as a team, because his lack of fitness is one of the reasons why they haven’t progressed into the final third yet.”
While Isak is settling in at Liverpool, Hugo Ekitike has scored six goals and provided one assist in his first 13 games for the Reds following his £79 million move from Frankfurt.
It was expected that there would be an epic battle for the main frontman position, with the two high-profile strikers hoping to establish themselves as Arne Slott’s preferred option.
Despite Liverpool spending an extra £46m on Isak, Ekitike appears to have the upper hand in the race at the moment.
Slott said earlier this week, “When he (Isak) came, he hardly trained.
“You try to prepare the players for one game of football a week, but if you play every three days at Liverpool, or normally three times in eight days, you try to prepare the players for that program.
“It’s not always easy without a preseason. So that’s what we tried to do. He missed the preseason and didn’t practice with the team for a long time.
