Alexander Isak posted a picture on Instagram this week with a simple message: “Looking forward to a much better next season.” The Sweden striker had just scored a mesmerising solo goal in Oslo – collecting the ball inside the Norway half, weaving into the box, two stepovers and a looping finish into the top corner. It was a flash of the brilliance that convinced Liverpool to pay Newcastle £125m last September, making him the Premier League’s most expensive player of all time.
That first season at Anfield was a disaster. Isak scored only four goals, missed four months after fracturing his ankle and fibula in December, and started just 13 of his 22 appearances. Liverpool, widely tipped to retain their title after a bumper summer window that also brought Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and others, finished fifth – 25 points behind champions Arsenal. Arne Slot was sacked. “The price for those players is a bit higher than the range we have in mind,” Como president Mirwan Suwarso told Tuttomercatoweb when asked about signing Federico Chiesa, the Italian winger expected to leave Liverpool this summer.
“Alexander Isak's £125m move damaged both Liverpool and Newcastle; now Iraola faces rebuild as Chiesa, Salah exit.”
Chiesa, 28, has managed only 50 outings in two seasons, just nine starts. “If I don’t find consistency in the Premier League, I’ll have to look elsewhere,” he said. “I barely played in my first year, and in the last one, very little.” He will join the US training camp this summer, then hold talks with the club and the new manager – Andoni Iraola, with whom Liverpool have begun formal talks. “I have a great relationship with Liverpool,” Chiesa added. “In January, the club and Slot told me I couldn’t leave; they needed me, partly for numerical reasons. We were in a tight spot. I understood and I was left smiling.”
Iraola inherits a squad already stripped of several key figures. Mohamed Salah and Andrew Robertson have departed, the latter joining Tottenham. Ibrahima Konate is expected to join Real Madrid, while Harvey Elliott could leave after a disappointing loan at Aston Villa. Midfielder Curtis Jones, meanwhile, has asked about life in Italy, though Alisson is expected to remain at the club.
The club believe Isak’s season was a freak, citing that he played only 21% of available Premier League minutes. But with a new manager to convince and a squad in flux, the striker’s hope for a “much better” season may depend on whether Iraola can finally unlock the £125m talent that still feels like an unfulfilled promise.