Arne Slott says Alexander Isak is ready to show the qualities that have made him Britain's most expensive footballer.
Isaac's low-key start to life at Liverpool was down to him missing much of Newcastle's pre-season training ahead of his record-breaking £125m move to Anfield. However, seven weeks after joining the Premier League champions and having played all of Sweden's last two World Cup qualifiers, Slott believes match fitness is no longer an issue for a forward looking to launch his Liverpool career against Manchester United on Sunday.
The Liverpool manager said: “Fitness-wise he is close to where he should be and we can fairly evaluate him from now on.”
“Of course, the first five or six weeks we signed players but he wasn't quite ready yet. He's getting better physically but he has to do it in Premier League games. That's not normal for a player. Ideally you would use him earlier in friendlies but there's no time for friendlies in the middle of the season so we have to get him in Premier League and Champions League games.
“You have to be at the top of your game to make a difference at this level. If you're 80, 90 or 95 per cent you can play at this level, but to play at the highest level of football you need 100 per cent. That goes for every player and I think I can safely say he's 100 per cent now.”
Isaac started four games for Liverpool in all competitions and scored once in the Carabao Cup win over Southampton. Asked what he hopes to get out of the club's record signing, Slote replied: “Goals. That's the simplest thing but also being the front three of our front three that we can improve on as well. That's what he needs to do but Hugo [Ekitiké] same.
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“Of course, if you are Liverpool's No. 9, you need to score goals, but that's what he has been doing his whole life. The only thing he needs is to be fit and if he is fit, our team can still create the most chances from the air in the Premier League and we have the most shots from the air in the Premier League. But the second part of football has become very important and we have to improve. You know what that is? Set-pieces. There are two games in football, the open game and the set-piece part.”