Alexander Isak Liverpool transfer criticisms blasted as ex-teammate makes defiant promise

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Nacho Monreal has thrown his support behind Alexander Isak and predicted that the Swedish striker will soon silence his critics at Liverpool after a slow start. Isak, 26, made a Premier League record-breaking £125million move to Anfield from Newcastle United in September.

However, since swapping St. James' Park for Merseyside, Isak has only found the back of the net once in eight appearances, with fitness and injury issues hampering his progress.

The forward effectively went on strike to secure his exit from Newcastle during the summer, training alone for most of pre-season and not featuring in any of the Magpies' friendlies or opening Premier League matches.

After finally securing his move to Liverpool, Isak was left playing catch-up due to his disjointed summer, with both Liverpool and Sweden managing his game time carefully as a result.

His progress was further hindered when he was forced off at half-time during Liverpool's win over Eintracht Frankfurt last month.

Missing four games as a result, Isak returned to the squad as an unused substitute for Liverpool's 3-0 defeat to Man City before the November international break. He then made his return from injury as a substitute for Sweden in their 4-1 loss to Switzerland, but was left on the bench against Slovenia to avoid the risk of suspension.

Former Arsenal defender Nacho Monreal spent two seasons alongside Alexander Isak at Real Sociedad, featuring in 65 matches together during the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons.

The Spaniard acknowledges things have been challenging for the Swedish striker at Liverpool so far, as he continues to face questions over his limited impact at Anfield relative to his substantial transfer fee.

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However, having witnessed his quality at close quarters, Monreal has no doubts that Isak will soon find the net regularly to silence doubters and re-establish himself amongst the Premier League's elite forwards.

"It's been very difficult for Alexander [Isak]," Monreal admitted to BetMGM. "He clearly wanted to go to Liverpool at the start of the summer transfer window. The fact it didn't happen until right at the end meant he didn't get a pre-season which has clearly had a big impact on his fitness.

"He's not at his top level yet and still needs minutes on the pitch to get up to that top, top level but when he gets there, I have no doubt he'll prove he's one of the best strikers in the Premier League.

"He has done it for Newcastle over the last few seasons and he's going to do the same for Liverpool. I've seen first-hand how much quality he has and it's just a matter of time before he shows it in a red shirt.

"In my opinion, he's a brilliant signing for Liverpool. He needs time to get fit but when that happens, people will see what he can do. They paid a lot of money for him, but I don't think you can say he's a waste of money or anything like that.

"When you bring in a top, top striker like Isak you are going to have to pay big money for them – I doubt that when he starts scoring 20 plus goals a season many will talk about the transfer fee."

The Reds return to Premier League action following the international break with a home fixture against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, with manager Arne Slot expressing his disappointment that Isak was unable to feature more extensively for Sweden due to his recent injury setback.

"The biggest issue we've faced until now, and [are] still facing, is the match fitness of the players and the time they've missed in pre-season," he explained at his pre-match press conference. "Alex [Isak], now we were hoping [for] him to play a little bit more for the Swedish national team.

"Unfortunately, he was one yellow away from being suspended so for obvious reasons they didn't play him the second time. But for us it would've been better if he had some minutes in the second game."

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