Arne Slot says maximising the output of Alexander Isak will be key when Liverpool plan for life after Mohamed Salah this summer.
Isak became British football’s record signing when he joined from Newcastle United for £125m, but injuries have disrupted his debut season.
After arriving without a full pre-season, he suffered a groin issue in October before breaking his leg in December following a challenge from Micky van de Ven.
The Sweden international returned after nearly four months out and scored his first Premier League goal at Anfield in last week’s 3-1 win over Crystal Palace.
With Salah – Liverpool’s third-highest scorer with 257 goals – set to leave, Slot indicated the focus will be on getting the best out of Alexander Isak rather than directly replacing the Egyptian’s output.
“[Getting the most from Isak] is definitely part of thinking about the [Salah] replacement,” Slot said.
“Because since I have been here – and it is the same at a lot of clubs – it is mainly a left footer on the right and a right footer on the left.
“I have seen Alex scoring also a lot from crosses which were played from the right, right footed, Trent Alexander-Arnold crosses, if you want to call them like that.
“So that is definitely part of how we are looking at things, but we try to sign the best possible available player who we can afford.
“Something else which also happens at certain clubs is: ‘OK, that is the best player in the world in that position, let’s try and get him.’
“That is not how we work, we try and sign the best possible player who is available for us.”
Salah is expected to depart alongside Andy Robertson, as Liverpool prepare for a summer transition and the end of an era under two key figures.
Slot added: “I think the transition hasn’t been completed yet.
“And by that I mean this cycle, the players that won the Champions League and Premier League with Jurgen [Klopp], I think if you look now, might only be Virgil [van Dijk] and Joe [Gomez] contracted to the club.
“So, yeah, again this summer, as a minimum of two will leave, so you can say you are at the end of a transition, there’s still a transition to be done.
“We know Hugo [Ekitike] will be out for a long, long time. We haven’t used Alex [Isak] this season hardly, so there is a lot to win and improve with this group of players we have now and next season.
“We all know the longer a team plays together, the better they get. That makes complete sense and this summer will see few changes again because Robbo and Mo are already leaving the club.”
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