Isak has been a huge miss for Liverpool - the road to showing why starts here
The Swede is set to return to full team training today and will hope for a strong finish to an injury-hit debut campaign at Anfield.
When Liverpool completed a British record deal to sign Alexander Isak last summer, it was hard to shake the feeling that senior figures were doing all they could to play down its significance.
For starters, the club’s media team were notably restrained in the content they offered up given this was a £125m addition, while it was also unusually difficult for reporters to get anyone at the AXA Training Centre to offer much detail regarding the move.
Of course, this discreet approach owed everything to the contentious nature of the Swede’s departure from Newcastle, who had begun the summer believing they would hold onto a player with three years remaining on his contract.
As far as Liverpool were concerned, there was little desire to rub salt in the wounds after coming out on top in what proved to be a fractious battle, or indeed set themselves up for a fall should the signing fail.
And it is that latter concern which looks particularly prescient now, with Isak having managed 16 appearances, 781 minutes, and just three goals across a debut campaign that has two months remaining.
