Goals & assists target! Alexander Isak told where ‘he’s got to be’ in second season at Liverpool after record-breaking £125m transfer

The 26-year-old frontman found the target on 62 occasions through 109 appearances for the Magpies - with 54 of those efforts being recorded in the Premier League. A reputation was established at St James’ Park as one of the most complete No.9s in world football.

Said standing convinced Liverpool to part with a British record transfer fee, with the reigning champions of England looking for somebody to lead their line in a bid to establish domestic dominance. The 2025-26 campaign did not play out as planned.

Isak arrived short of fitness following a disrupted pre-season and never looked close to full match sharpness. A broken leg suffered in December did his cause few favours. The season ended with the net being hit on just four occasions.

The 2026 World Cup was graced with Sweden, but that has led to another short summer being taken in at club level. Liverpool need their leading marksman to hit the ground running when competitive action resumes away at Newcastle on Sunday.

Ahead of facing his former employers, Isak has been told by Heskey - who was speaking exclusively to GOAL courtesy of Premier League betting site BetWright - of the targets that he needs to be setting: “I think 20 goals and assists is probably where he's got to be at, that's to start with.

“The reality is we can no longer, because we don't have it anymore, rely on Mo Salah's 30+. We don't have [Sadio] Mane's 25+. We don't have [Roberto] Firmino's 19+. So all eyes are on you and 20 plus is what is needed. We do need others to chip in and get some, but when you're talking about the price tag and the pressure of being the number 9, yeah, that's what is needed.”

Isak was on target during Liverpool’s friendly clash with Monaco, as he seeks to get his eye in, but another former Reds striker, Robbie Fowler - a man known as ‘God’ by the Anfield faithful - has aired concern when it comes to the costliest player in Premier League history producing his best.

Fowler told GOAL recently: “I'll be honest with you, I'm a little bit worried about this actually, because he hasn't been fit this year.

“He obviously turned up to Liverpool and he wasn't fit for whatever reason, we don't know, and we can make our own assumptions. He obviously got back into the team, looked a little bit better, then obviously broke his leg and then he was out, and then towards the end of the season, played a few games, he obviously wasn't fit. And that's right, because he just broke his leg and he was getting back into the fold of the squad.

“When he comes back from the World Cup, he's going to have a short turnaround again, so I don't think he's going to be as fit as what we'd like as a Liverpool fan. I hope I'm proved wrong, of course I am, but it worries me slightly that he's going to come into next season and probably not get that main pre-season behind him, which is probably what he's needed.”

Liverpool are, having parted company with Arne Slot, now working under the guidance of Spanish tactician Andoni Iraola. He is aware of the need to get Isak firing, with the Reds having stumbled to a fifth-place finish last term.

Florian Wirtz, with a £116m ($157m) price tag around his neck, is another that needs to produce after enduring a testing debut campaign in the English top-flight. The Reds will be eager to burst out of the blocks when heading to Tyneside for a testing opening weekend fixture.