Liverpool fans have been waiting with patience, hope, and excitement since the moment Alexander Isak walked through the doors at Anfield on deadline day. It was one of those transfers that felt impossible until it happened. A record-breaking £125 million signing, the kind that sent shockwaves through English football, Isak was meant to be the jewel in Arne Slot’s new Liverpool project. But football, as it always does, reminded everyone that greatness takes time.
The Swedish striker didn’t arrive in perfect condition. He came after a messy exit from Newcastle United, where he had refused to join their pre-season camp in order to force through his dream move to Merseyside. By the time the deal was finally done, Isak had missed valuable training sessions, warm-up matches, and those crucial weeks of fitness buildup that make the difference when the season begins. Slot knew that and wasn’t ready to rush him. Liverpool fans had to wait.
At first, his performances reflected exactly that lack of rhythm. There were flashes — sharp touches, elegant turns, clever runs — but the killer instinct wasn’t fully there yet. His only goal came in the Carabao Cup win over Southampton. He looked good, but not ruthless. The finishing touch that defined him at Newcastle, that cold-blooded calm inside the box, still needed rediscovering. Still, even in those quieter moments, you could sense what was coming. There was power in every movement, hunger in every look, and determination in every minute he played. And now, as Arne Slot himself has confirmed, the wait is finally over.
In his pre-match press conference before the clash with Manchester United, Slot looked calm, confident, and quietly excited. When asked about Isak’s condition, his response felt like a promise to Liverpool fans. “He has had five or six weeks of pre-season which is normal,” Slot said. “Fitness-wise, he is close to the level and we can judge in a fair way from now on.”
That sentence changed the entire tone around the striker. The manager was effectively saying: *this is the real Isak now*. No more talk of rustiness or settling in. The Swedish star has finally reached the point where his body, mind, and rhythm are all aligned.
It wasn’t just talk. The signs were already there. During the international break, Isak played 180 minutes for Sweden — full matches against Switzerland and Kosovo. He didn’t score, but he looked stronger, faster, sharper. For Liverpool, that was the biggest win of the break. It proved that his conditioning was back, that he could handle the physical intensity of back-to-back games. For a player who had gone through such a disrupted summer, it was exactly the kind of progress Slot had been waiting for.
