Following a months-long transfer saga in which he was accused of “toxic” behaviour, Alexander Isak (£10.4m) won his game of chicken against Newcastle United and confirmed his move to Liverpool on transfer deadline day.
Speaking to the Reds’ media team after the deal was announced, the striker had this to say:
“I feel amazing. It’s been a long journey to get here, but I’m super-happy to be a part of this team, this club and everything it stands for. It’s something I’m proud of and I’m really looking forward to it. I’m just happy it’s done and that I can get back to work. I’m looking forward to seeing my teammates and the fans, and getting back out there.
“I think I have a lot to give, I think I have a lot to improve. I’m a striker but I always want to give as much as possible to the team, mainly goals but much more than that as well. I want to win everything. Yeah, [as simple as that].” – Alexander Isak on his move to Liverpool
Liverpool boss Arne Slot was understandably coy when relentlessly quizzed on the rumours linking his side to Isak over the summer, and we’ve yet to hear from the Dutch manager since the deal was officially confirmed.
No quotes from Slot were included in the club’s transfer announcement, either, but have no doubt that this will be a hot topic when he conducts his press conference ahead of Gameweek 4, after the international break has concluded.
In the interim, we weigh up the transfer.
THE HISTORY
Isak started out with Stockholm-based Swedish side AIK – for whom he remains the youngest-ever Allsvenskan goalscorer, aged 16 – before moving to Borussia Dortmund in 2017.
A few seasons in the youth ranks with sporadic first-team appearances for the Bundesliga team was followed by a season on loan at Dutch outfit Willem II during 2018/19, when he racked up 13 goals and seven assists from only 15 Eredivisie starts.
That earned the young Swede a move to La Liga’s Real Sociedad.
| Season | Team | Starts (sub apps) | Mins | Goals | Assists | FPL points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024/25 | Newcastle | 34 | 2,758 | 23 | 6 | 211 |
| 2023/24 | Newcastle | 27 (3) | 2,253 | 21 | 4 | 172 |
| 2022/23 | Newcastle | 17 (5) | 1,520 | 10 | 2 | 100 |
| 2021/22 | Real Sociedad | 26 (6) | 2,157 | 6 | 2 | n/a |
| 2020/21 | Real Sociedad | 30 (4) | 2,356 | 17 | 2 | n/a |
| 2019/20 | Real Sociedad | 14 (23) | 1,499 | 9 | 1 | n/a |
Isak was used largely as an impact sub in his first La Liga season with Txuri-Urdin, starting in only 14 of his 37 league appearances, but still managed to net nine goals. He also bagged an assist and a competition-leading seven goals in eight Copa del Rey matches that year as Sociedad won the Spanish Cup.
An even more prolific season followed in 2020/21 as Isak established himself in Sociedad’s starting XI, with a quieter, slightly injury-disrupted 2021/22 not enough of a deterrent to dissuade Newcastle from shelling out a club record £63m for his services.
As he did for Sociedad, Isak scored on his debut for the Magpies – coincidentally against Liverpool at Anfield, one of four goals in six total appearances against his new club – before a thigh injury kept him out of action until January 2023. He job-shared with Callum Wilson (£5.9m) upon his return but still finished his first Premier League campaign with 10 goals and two assists.
By the end of 2023/24, Isak had delivered a further 21 goals and four more Fantasy Premier League (FPL) assists from 27 league starts to establish himself as one of the English top flight’s most prolific frontmen – a reputation under which he again flourished last season, banging in 23 goals and six assists.
Having sat out Newcastle’s pre-season and subsequently missed the first three matches of 2025/25 while attempting to force through a move to Liverpool, the 25-year-old finally sealed his sought-after Anfield arrival this week for a new British transfer record fee.
Internationally, Isak made his senior debut for Sweden in 2017 and has 16 goals – the first of which made him his country’s youngest scorer – to his name from 52 appearances.
PLAYING STYLE AND STATS
A tall striker characterised by bursting pace, darting dribbles, clever off-ball movement and clinical finishing, it’s easy to see why any club in need of a world-class centre forward would be interested in Isak.
The fact that he is also “Premier League-proven”, with 54 goals in 86 appearances in the division for Newcastle, is something FPL managers, plus fans of the Reds alike, will undoubtedly value after underwhelming spells by many a promising striker arriving in England from abroad, including but not limited to ex-Liverpool man Darwin Nunez.
GOAL THREAT
Only Erling Haaland (£14.1m), with 49, and Mohamed Salah (£14.5m), with 47, scored more Premier League goals across the last two seasons than Isak, who managed 44.
In terms of non-penalty goals, Haaland’s 39 (from 62 games) is the only tally higher than Isak’s 35 (from 64 games), with Salah scoring 33 times from open play in 70 matches since the start of 2023/24.
It’s re-assuring that Isak isn’t necessarily a so-called “penalty merchant” as he may not – at least immediately – take first-choice spot-kick duties away from his new teammate; although, the Swede does have better success rate from 12 yards in the Premier League (92%, 11/12 scored) than Salah (85%, 34/40 scored), albeit from a smaller sample size.
Salah was the sole player with more league goals than Isak’s 23 last term, in a campaign where the former Newcastle frontman’s history-making exploits included becoming just the fourth different player to score in eight successive Premier League appearances. Meanwhile, only the Egyptian winger and Bournemouth star Antoine Semenyo (£7.4m) registered more penalty box touches than his 211.
Isak’s 45 shots on target last season placed him in the Premier League’s top four outfielders in that metric, with just Haaland, Salah and Cole Palmer (£10.4m) accruing more.
The same is true of his ranking for shots in the box (84) and Opta-defined big chances (36), while Isak’s ruthless finishing is highlighted by his goal conversion rate (23.2%) surpassing that of the other aforementioned ‘big-hitters’ and being shy of very few notable FPL assets aside from Chris Wood’s (£7.7m) 29.4%, Jorgen Strand Larsen’s (£6.4m) 25.9%, Iliman Ndiaye’s (£6.5m) 24.3% and Bryan Mbeumo’s (£8.1m) 23.5%.
At 6ft 4in, he offers an aerial presence as well and scored four goals from 14 headed attempts last season. He is definitely more comfortable with his favoured right peg than his left, though, having scored only one league goal with the latter foot in 2024/25.
UNDERRATED CREATOR?
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