Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has tempered expectations surrounding Alexander Isak by suggesting the British-record signing is unlikely hit the ground running after a disrupted pre-season.
The Sweden international completed a £125 million (€144 million) deadline-day move but his dispute with Newcastle over his entitlement to a move meant a late substitute appearance against Kosovo represented his first minutes of football since May.
Slot, who said Isak was “maybe the best striker in the world”, asked for fans to be patient with him if the 25-year-old was taken off or not brought on until late on as he tries to get him up to speed.
“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,” said the Dutchman.
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“I think he missed three or four 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 so this is 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 few moments. That is all for the fitness of the player.”
