Transfer fee won't be an issue for Isak as he looks to boost fitness

FOR just a few minutes on Saturday, long after the 60,000 supporters had shuffled out of Anfield following the Merseyside derby, Alexander Isak might have felt an unwanted sense of deja vu.

- By PAUL GORST

from Arne Slot before coming on as a substitute in Saturday's derby

Liverpool's No.9 had spent his final weeks on Tyneside training alone as the acrimonious nature of his exit from Newcastle United reached boiling point.

And having played some 25 minutes of the 2-1 win over Everton on Saturday for his new club, Isak once more found himself being put through his paces alone, running from the goalline to the halfway point inside an empty Anfield while Liverpool staff watched on.

This time though, the warm-down routine was anything but a punishment.

Instead, it was very much part of the wider plan that has been hatched to get him up to speed as quickly as possible.

And as Isak shuttled up and down the Kop end, in drills overseen by fitness coach Dr Conall Murtagh, he will have been comforted by the knowledge that this was all geared towards getting him back to the sort of levels that made him the most expensive transfer in British football history.

Last week was an encouraging one on that front for the £125m man, who celebrated his 26th birthday on Sunday.

He made his Reds debut in an hour-long cameo against Atletico Madrid, building on that with another run-out from the bench in the 247th derby.

The minutes accrued means Isak has now played around 100 for club and country since the end of last season and more could arrive in the Carabao Cup when the Reds begin their campaign at the third-round stage at home to Southampton tonight.