Arne Slot opens up about Alexander Isak’s Liverpool debut

Arne Slot, on Sunday, opened up about Alexander Isak’s debut after he was left out of the Liverpool squad against Burnley following his transfer from Newcastle United.

Isak made a move from Newcastle to Liverpool on a long-term contract on deadline day, putting an end to one of the longest summer transfer sagas.

The Magpies accepted a British record £125 million ($170 million) bid for the Sweden international on September 1, before rejecting an offer worth £110 million plus add-ons.

Liverpool boss Slot, speaking on Sky Sports, has now explained why he did not give him a chance against Burnley.

"No, not today," Slot explained.

"As everybody knew, he hasn't had any team training at Newcastle. He then went to the national team [Sweden] and only played there for 15-20 minutes."

Slot added that Isak could make his Liverpool debut against Atletico Madrid in a Champions League match at Anfield.

"We think that in a week where we play three games in seven days, this is the best lead-up for him to be available against Atletico Madrid,” Slot added.

When asked when Isak can play regularly, Arne Slot said it is always difficult to tell and did not provide any clear answer.

"That's always difficult to say. What I can say is that normally in a pre-season, after one or two weeks, you play your first 45-60 minutes and you build that up gradually,” Liverpool boss said.

"But that you do with proper training sessions during the week, now we hardly have any training sessions with the team because we play three games in seven days.

"So, he's where he would be on the second or third week of pre-season, I would say, so able to hopefully play during the week 45 minutes or more.

"But then two days later we play Everton, so it's going to be interesting for performance staff, for us, to get the best out of him for a start, but to also keep him available to the end.”

Alexander Isak, who moved from La Liga club Real Sociedad to Newcastle for £60m in 2022, scored 27 goals in 42 appearances across all competitions last campaign.