Arne Slot believes Alexander Isak will prove to be a huge asset for Liverpool — but warned that patience will be required as they build up his fitness.
The Sweden striker completed a British record £125million ($169.1m) move to Anfield from Newcastle United on deadline day.
It marked the end of a summer-long saga which saw Isak go on strike as he tried to force through the transfer.
When he came off the bench for his country against Kosovo on Monday night, it was his first outing since the end of last season.
“A lot of things happened on the last day of the window but the thing that pleased me most was us getting the deal for Alex over the line,” Slot said. “(Sporting director) Richard Hughes, the ownership, everyone involved worked so hard to get the deal done, so it is very good for the club, for the fans, the players, and for me.
“Sweden manager Jon Dahl Tomasson deserves a big compliment too because he had maybe the best striker in the world and needed to play two very important games, but he understood if he played him twice for 90 minutes then probably the player would have been injured for multiple weeks.
“We will treat Alex the same as he did. Don’t expect him to be every single game 90 minutes on the pitch. That’s definitely not going to happen for the next few weeks.
“He missed a proper pre-season. I think he missed three months of team sessions, so now we have to build him up gradually with us playing so many games and hardly any training time.
“That is going to be a challenge, but we have not just signed him for the upcoming two weeks, we have signed him for six years. That’s what we have to keep in mind, and what the fans have to keep in mind if I take him off in a certain moment or I only bring him in for a small amount of minutes. That is all for the fitness of the player.”
Slot shrugged off the criticism Isak has received for how he went about trying to convince Newcastle to sell him.
“In football there is always criticism. Sometimes people cheer for you. I think when he won the League Cup everyone was really happy with him and in other moments you get criticised. This is part of his life, my life, our jobs.
“I’m really happy that Alex signed for us because I did feel, all the way, that we needed an attacking player extra. So happy that we could bring in the one we wanted from the start.
“I haven’t spoken with him much yet. I have to get to know him much better as a person over the coming weeks. But I faced him a few times and I know what a quality player he is.”
Liverpool missed out on the signing of Marc Guehi on deadline day when Crystal Palace U-turned at the eleventh hour after a fee of £35million had been agreed between the clubs. However, Slot insists he’s happy with his centre-back options for the challenges ahead.
“I think it would be ridiculous if I denied we were close to signing him as it’s so out in the open,” he said.
“These things happen in football. It happened to our players maybe in the past as well that they thought they were so close to signing somewhere else and then, in the last moment, things change.
“We would have liked to sign him of course because we were in for him. But the day before, we played Arsenal where Virgil (van Dijk) and Ibou (Konate) played an outstanding game. Then Joe (Gomez) came in 20 minutes before the end and did outstanding as well.
“With us signing Giovanni Leoni, who had his first international call-up (for Italy), plus Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endo can play there, it’s not like we don’t have options in that position.
“It’s a pity but not only for us, but also for the player I think. But he’s in a good place, playing at Palace where he won the Community Shield and the FA Cup with a very good manager as well. Let’s see what the future brings for him and for us.”
Asked if Liverpool would make another attempt to sign Guehi in January or wait until next summer when he will be a free agent, Slot said: “If I am thinking anything, you know I don’t tell you! The thing I think most about is Burnley at the moment.”
Curtis Jones will miss Sunday’s trip to Turf Moor due to injury but Slot is confident that all his international contingent will be available. He will only have the full squad back together for the first time on Friday.
Harvey Elliott’s deadline day move to Aston Villa meant that he didn’t get the chance to say a proper goodbye to his team-mates.
Slot believes Liverpool were right to sanction his departure on a season-long loan with an obligation to buy for £35million next summer if he makes at least 10 appearances.
“It’s in the interests of everyone,” he added.
Elliott had spent six years with Liverpool after arriving from Fulham in 2019 (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
“He didn’t get the playing time he probably deserved for the quality player he is. He conducted himself always so well. It wasn’t only that when he said this was his club that he wanted to say this to the fans, he acted inside like that with him not playing so much.
“He was always doing what was in the best interests of the club. He deserves a big compliment for that.
“Everyone always talks about Mo (Salah) and Virgil, but players like Harvey were definitely also the reason we could win the league because he was always positive. If he had to play five or 10 minutes he helped the team in every decision he did. I think he is completely ready now to show the quality he has at Aston Villa.”
Slot also explained how he informed Federico Chiesa face to face that he wouldn’t be named in the club’s Champions League squad for the league phase of the competition due to only 17 non-homegrown players being permitted.
“It’s one of the most difficult things you have to do as a manager,” he said.
“I explained to him why we made this choice. Of course he wasn’t happy. But I think he understood my argument. He gave the answer you want to hear from a player — that he will be there to help the team in all the other competitions.”
(Top photo: Nikki Dyer – LFC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
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