Alexander Isak has undergone surgery to repair a fracture to his left leg and will potentially be out until next spring.
Liverpool were bracing themselves for bad news following an MRI scan on Sunday to determine the extent of the injury Isak sustained in Saturday’s 2-1 win at Tottenham.
Though it was swiftly ruled out that Isak had suffered anterior cruciate ligament damage – an injury that would have ended his campaign – they were aware the prognosis wasn’t going to be good.
Scans confirmed a lower leg fracture and he underwent a successful operation on Monday to put the bone back into place.
Liverpool are not putting any pressure on Isak to get back to fitness and there is no timescale, other than it is expected to be a few months.
The minimum length for a leg fracture is usually 12 weeks and, working to that timeline, it would take Isak towards the international break next March.
There is no escaping that this is an enormous blow for the 26-year-old, who joined Liverpool on transfer deadline day in September for a British record £125million.
He was injured following a heavy challenge from Tottenham defender Mickey Van de Ven after scoring just his second Premier League goal for Liverpool. In total, he has three goals in 16 appearances in all competitions.
Asked about the injury on Saturday, Liverpool head coach Arne Slot said: ‘We’ll have to wait and see. But if a player scores and then gets injured and doesn’t try to come back on the pitch, that’s usually not a good thing.’
This is the latest – and most serious – setback Isak has endured since swapping Tyneside for Merseyside. He arrived lacking match fitness and struggled to make an impact in his first six weeks, before suffering a groin issue against Eintracht Frankfurt.
He returned to score his first Premier League goal in victory at West Ham last month but his strike against Tottenham was the first time Isak had genuinely shown the quality of why Liverpool wanted to break the British transfer record.
The setback comes at a time when Liverpool are already without Mohamed Salah, who is at the Africa Cup of Nations, and it leaves them with just Hugo Ekitike as their only fit central striker.
