The messages began circulating the night the deal was done. No sooner had Alexander Isak been announced as Liverpool’s new totem, his new supporters began to peer into crystal balls.
It was assumed, with no lack of giddiness, that Isak would launch his career on Merseyside in style in the game that still matters more than any other and WhatsApp was ablaze with the potential that the Swede’s first goal in Red would come against Everton on September 20.
Virgil van Dijk had got his time at Anfield off to a flyer with a header that knocked the Blues out of the FA Cup in January 2018; fate often seems to play a hand in this fixture, which is why Nick Barmby’s first goal for Liverpool after acrimoniously leaving Goodison Park came against… Everton.
You could understand, then, why there was such fervour. There were also £125million reasons adding another few layers to the intrigue but the reality turned out to be different: in 23 tentative minutes, he had 10 touches – just two of which were in Everton’s penalty area.
Clearly lacking condition after a rancorous summer when he went AWOL from Tyneside, Isak didn’t get the start he wanted or needed – and now, even worse, he finds himself contemplating a few months on the sidelines and wondering when his Liverpool odyssey will truly take flight.
Liverpool confirmed late on Monday night that Isak had successfully undergone surgery to repair a fracture to his lower left leg and head coach Arne Slot’s media briefing today will be gloomy. How bitter the irony it occurred at the precise moment he looked like he had turned a corner.
Isak’s goal in what turned out to be an anxious 2-1 win at Tottenham was everything Slot had been expecting from the 26-year-old on the back of such a heavy investment, the head coach’s shriek of joy as he saw the ball nestle indicating just how much he has wanted to see him make a difference.
Those ambitions must now be shelved. The return fixture with Tottenham is on March 14 and Liverpool could have as many as 20 games to fulfil before then, including potential Champions League knockout fixtures – it will be a miracle if Isak is available for any.
Slot is devastated for Isak and you can expect, when he talks about the injury for the first time, there will be a sharpness in his voice, as there remains a feeling of unhappiness within Anfield about the nature of a challenge from Mickey Van de Ven that caused the damage.
Clearly, there was no malicious intent from Van de Ven but given the force and speed with which he thundered into Isak, his legs moving like scissors, there was some surprise that VAR officials did not feel it necessary to examine whether it was tackle within the rules.
‘I’m sad for Isak, as he had a bad beginning at Liverpool,’ Frack Leboeuf, the former Chelsea defender and France World Cup winner, noted on ESPN. ‘But I’m sorry. I love Mickey Van de Ven, the way he is behaving and how he plays football. I love the player.
‘But he has to be punished. I’m sorry. You cannot get out of that. I was a defender, I never injured any player. You can tackle, you can be hard – but you have to be in control of what you do. I’m sorry – but in that matter, and the result, says a lot. Van de Ven wasn’t in control. Something has to come out.’
The only thing that will be ‘out’ of this episode is Isak, who had been desperately trying to get himself up to speed behind-the-scenes. There had been extra running sessions, more work in the gym and longer hours at Liverpool’s AXA enclave to make up for lost time.
He would not have been immune to the noise. There had been tough periods in his career at Real Sociedad and Borussia Dortmund but nothing like this; the lack of goals, the lack of big moments, he told Swedish newspaper Afonbladet, had left him at a loss.
What had been most disconcerting, in the build up to the Tottenham game, was the unusual parallel that could be drawn to the last time Liverpool made a player from Newcastle their club record signing back in January 2011.
Time marches on but the astonishment of Liverpool sending a helicopter on a deadline day nearly 15 years ago to get Andy Carroll in the building, for £35million, was comparable with them going for broke this summer in a way that left seasoned observers noting was very unlike Liverpool.
Isak, spookily, has a near identical return after 16 games as Carroll: 10 starts, three goals in all competitions, the differences being he did it in 781 minutes compared to the former England man’s 1016 and he also managed an assist.
To be clear, there is absolutely no comparison between the two as players: Isak is more skilful, technically more proficient, a better athlete, has more speed and is a better finisher but, like Carroll, he arrived out-of-shape and the momentum a big Liverpool transfer needs has never been there.
Those who work with him will tell you it is going to come, the same way they are adamant that Florian Wirtz will one day be like a starburst of creativity and magic. But when that day comes for Isak is impossible to say. A player, a team, a manager and a fanbase are back at square one.
