Arne Slot delivers promising Alexander Isak injury update as Liverpool striker targets return

Isak cost Liverpool a British transfer record £125 million ($168m) when moving to Anfield from Newcastle in the summer of 2025. Having arrived on Merseyside without a pre-season campaign behind him, the 26-year-old striker was forever playing catch-up on the fitness front.

He eventually broke down when finding himself on the receiving end of a full-blooded tackle from Spurs defender Micky van de Ven. Isak suffered fibula and ankle fractures, leading to him going under the knife.

Having spent two months on the sidelines, Isak has stepped up his recovery by making a return to light training. He will be eased back into the first-team fold, with no unnecessary risks being taken.

Slot has, however, hinted at a recall being a matter of weeks away, telling reporters: “Alex has been on the pitch, not with his football boots, but with his running shoes for the first time this week, so that will take a while as well.

“Let’s not put a timescale on it, but it's clear he will be available if things go as planned this season. It will be some time around there, the end of March, start of April, when he is hopefully back with the group, but that's not to say you're ready to play, let alone start a game

“I’m not sure if I'm educating you, but before they go on the pitch, it’s not like they're lying in bed 24 hours a day. They come to the training ground, do their gym work and rehab.

“It’s nice for him to go on the pitch, it’s nice for us to see him here, because there's still enough work to be done but you know as a player, you arrive in the final stages of your rehab. As long as you’re in the gym and not the pitch, that’s not the nicest part.

“The next step is doing work with the ball, which every player likes the most. The next step is to come into the group and then it takes a while before you’re ready to play. But it’s nice that the rehab goes well - that’s a compliment to him and our medical staff.”

Isak registered just three goals through 16 appearances prior to being laid low, but Liverpool expect value for money to be found in the Swede once he is fully up to speed.

Slot has said when asked if a proven Premier League performer needs more support in order to produce his best: “It’s been a really challenging and difficult period for him, I think.

“You join a new club and usually when you join a new club you are, and he was of course, very excited and you want to show immediately all the qualities you have but that was simply impossible.

“Maybe no-one understands but if you haven’t trained for three or four months on a serious level with the team and you’re playing in this league… in this league you need to be on the top of your game to impact a game of football.

“That took, which we all knew, months before we could bring him there because there was no pre-season, there were games, games, games.

“We had hardly any time to train, so we always knew that it would take him time and that’s why he is so unlucky that he is now injured because I think we all saw with his goal against West Ham, with this goal [against Tottenham], that he got closer and closer to the player he was at Newcastle.”

Isak could make a timely return as Liverpool reach the business end of their endeavours in 2025-26. Slot’s side remain in the hunt for FA Cup and Champions League honours, while also chasing down a top-four finish. They will be back in Premier League action on Sunday when taking in a trip to Nottingham Forest.