11 hours ago
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Arne Slot has sent a warning to Manchester United that Alexander Isak is finally '100 per cent' fit and firing in time for Sunday's Anfield showdown.
Isak has made a slow start to life on Merseyside since his protracted record £120million move from Newcastle United this summer.
He has failed to score a Premier League goal from 181 minutes of action and has scored just once in all competitions.
A tricky adaptation for Isak after going without a proper pre-season was no surprise to Slot but he is now convinced that after a five to six week mini pre-season at the club, this current version of Isak looks like the one Liverpool paid all that money for.
'The outside world can, from now on, say we have the one we signed,' Slot said.
'That is better. The first five or six weeks, of course we had the player we signed but he was not completely ready yet, he was just getting fitter and fitter but just had to do this in a Premier League game. This is not normal for a player.
Arne Slot has sent a warning to Manchester United that Alexander Isak is finally '100 per cent' fit and firing in time for Sunday's Anfield showdown
Isak has made a slow start to life on Merseyside since his protracted record £120million move from Newcastle United
'I think I have said many times we have signed him for six years so if we want him somewhere we have to go through this period of playing him where ideally you would use him earlier in a friendly match than a Premier League game or a Champions League game but there is no time in the middle of the season for a friendly match so we had to build him up playing Premier League matches and I think you have to be on top of your game to make a difference at this level.
'You can play at this level if you are maybe 80 or 90 or 95 percent but if you want to make a difference at the highest level of football, because that is what the Premier League is, then you need to be 100 per cent.
'It goes for every player and I think I can safely say he is 100 per cent now.'
That is ominous for a Manchester United side that Isak has bested in four of five league games since moving to England from Real Sociedad in 2022.
It was his goal four minutes in a month into Amorim's tenure that set Newcastle en route to a 2-0 win at Old Trafford last December.
In the reverse game at St James' Park he grabbed an assist in a 4-1 route.
Asked what Slot expects of Isak now he is fully up to speed his answer left no room for misunderstanding.
'Goals,' Slot said. 'That is the most simple thing.'
The Swede has bested in four of five league games since moving to England from Real Sociedad in 2022
He added: 'To be the leader in pressing from our front three, there we can improve as well, that is something he needs to do but Hugo [Ekitike] the same.
'Of course you are a No 9 at Liverpool, you need to score goals but that is what he has always done in his life.
'The only thing he needs to be is fit and if he is fit, our team is still creating the most chances from open play in the Premier League and we have the most shots on target in the Premier League from open play.'
