Isak won't be ready until NEXT season, says ex-Red Warnock

FORMER Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock believes Alexander Isak won't be able to showcase his best form until next season after the full benefit of a summer schedule.

- By PAUL GORST

Sweden international Isak has scored just one Premier League goal for the Reds since he joined for a British-record fee of £125m on September 1 from Newcastle United.

The acrimonious nature of his Newcastle exit meant the striker didn’t have a preseason schedule on Tyneside, with Isak banished from the first team by manager Eddie Howe and made to train on his own while he attempted to engineer his blockbuster move to Anfield.

As a result, Isak has looked some way short of the form that saw him score 23 times for the Magpies last time out, and a groin injury, picked up in October, has also had a knock-on effect for the 26-year-old.