Arne Slot has broken his silence on Alexander Isak’s record move to Liverpool, describing the striker’s arrival as a huge boost for the club.
The 25-year-old was signed from Newcastle United on deadline day in a deal worth £125million ($169m), but with the international break falling immediately after the transfer window closed, Slot had not spoken publicly about the transfer until his pre-Burnley press conference on Friday.
“The thing that pleased me most is us getting the deal for Alex over the line. Richard [Hughes], the ownership, everyone worked so hard to get the deal done, so it is very good for the club, for the fans, the players, for me that all the work they put in resulted in Alex signing for us,” Slot said.
Isak linked up with his new team-mates for the first time at the AXA Training Centre on Wednesday. However, he is still building up his sharpness after a disrupted summer. He played just 18 minutes across Sweden’s recent fixtures, with manager Jon Dahl Tomasson leaving him out against Slovenia before using him as a substitute in the defeat to Kosovo.
Given his current condition, Isak is not expected to start against Burnley at Turf Moor on Sunday. Slot praised Sweden’s handling of the forward and confirmed Liverpool will take the same cautious approach.
“I think the Swedish manager deserves a big compliment because he gets maybe the best striker in the world but understands that if he plays him for 90 minutes, he could be injured for multiple weeks,” he said.
“We will treat Alex the same. Don’t expect him to be 90 minutes every week over the upcoming weeks. Now we have to build him up gradually with hardly any training time. That will be a challenge, but we have not signed him for the next few weeks, but for the next six years.
“I did feel all the way that we needed an extra attacking player and I’m so pleased we managed to get him.”
