A transfer that rewrote the rulebook
September 1, 2025. The number £125 million flashed across every sports ticker in Britain like a warning. Newcastle, still riding the high of their Champions League run the season before, had just cashed in on Alexander Isak – their talismanic striker, their poster boy, the man who’d dragged them to within touching distance of glory. And Liverpool, ever the club with an eye for a statement, had broken the bank. Not just the Premier League record. The British record. A fee so vast it felt less like a transfer and more like a declaration of intent.
The reaction was instant. Pundits split clean down the middle. Some called it visionary, a masterstroke for a club still licking its wounds after a trophyless 2024-25. Others muttered about financial fair play, about the weight of expectation, about the sheer audacity of spending that much on one player when the squad already had Darwin Núñez, Luis Díaz, and a host of young forwards clamouring for minutes. But money, as they say, talks. And on that September afternoon, Liverpool’s chequebook screamed louder than any fan’s doubt.
Three games, three goals, one question: is this the real deal?
Fast forward to matchday three. The Premier League table doesn’t lie, but it doesn’t always tell the full story either. Liverpool, under Arne Slot – a man brought in to steady the ship after Jürgen Klopp’s emotional exit – were nowhere. Mid-table, stuttering, a side that looked like it had forgotten how to win. And then there was Isak. Quiet in the first half against Brentford, a ghost drifting between defenders, his touch heavy, his runs mistimed. The crowd at Anfield, usually so quick to roar, held its breath.
And then. The 67th minute. A ball over the top, not even a great pass, just a hopeful lob into space. Isak read it like he’d written the script himself. One touch to kill it, another to shift it past the onrushing keeper. The net bulged. The stadium erupted. And just like that, the narrative shifted. One goal. Not a hat-trick, not a worldie, just a striker doing what strikers are supposed to do – putting the ball in the net when it matters.
Two more followed in the next two games. A tap-in against Brighton, a header from a corner against Aston Villa. Nothing flashy. Nothing that would make the highlight reels on Tips GG reports. But goals, nonetheless. The kind that win titles. The kind that make £125 million feel, if not like a bargain, then at least like a down payment on something bigger.
The Slot system: a work in progress, with Isak as its reluctant poster boy
Arne Slot wasn’t supposed to be Klopp’s successor. That much was clear from the moment the Dutchman was announced. No heavy metal football, no gegenpressing, no emotional farewell tours. Slot’s Liverpool was meant to be smarter. More possession, more structure, more patience. A side that controlled games rather than bludgeoning them into submission.
It hasn’t been pretty. The first 15 league games of the season have been a masterclass in frustration. Liverpool dominate the ball – 62% possession on average, the highest in the league – but too often it feels like they’re passing it between themselves just to keep it away from the opposition. The front three, with Isak at the tip, looks disjointed. Núñez, brilliant but erratic, keeps drifting wide. Díaz, all silky feet and no end product, seems to forget he’s supposed to shoot. And Isak? He’s been the closest thing to a focal point, but even he looks like a man still learning the language.
Slot’s system relies on quick transitions, on full-backs bombing forward, on midfielders arriving late into the box. Isak, used to Newcastle’s more direct approach under Eddie Howe, has had to adapt. There have been growing pains. Missed chances, wayward passes, moments where he looks like he’s waiting for a ball that Liverpool simply don’t play. But then there are the flashes. The hold-up play, the link-up with the wingers, the way he drops deep to drag defenders out of position. It’s not perfect. But it’s progress.
The weight of the fee: does £125 million buy patience?
Here’s the thing about record transfers. They don’t just come with expectations. They come with timelines. And for Isak, the clock is ticking.
Liverpool fans aren’t stupid. They know that £125 million doesn’t guarantee success. They’ve seen it before – Andy Carroll, Darwin Núñez, even the great Fernando Torres, who left for Chelsea in a blaze of acrimony after his goals dried up. But they also know that in the modern game, you don’t spend that kind of money unless you believe the player can change everything.
So far, Isak has given them glimpses. The winning goal against Brentford. The composed finish against Villa. The way he’s started to gel with Mohamed Salah, the two of them swapping positions like they’ve been playing together for years. But glimpses aren’t enough. Not when you’re mid-table. Not when the Champions League places feel like they’re slipping away. Not when every missed chance is met with a groan, every loss dissected under a microscope.
The question isn’t whether Isak is good. He is. The question is whether he’s £125 million good. And right now, no one – not Slot, not the board, not even Isak himself – can answer that with any certainty.
The bigger picture: Liverpool’s identity crisis
Isak’s struggles aren’t happening in a vacuum. They’re part of a wider malaise at Anfield, one that goes deeper than just tactics or form. Liverpool, for the first time in a decade, don’t know who they are.
Under Klopp, they were chaos incarnate. Relentless, emotional, a side that thrived on energy and heart. Slot’s Liverpool is different. More measured, more calculated. But it’s also less. Less exciting, less unpredictable, less Liverpool. And that’s a problem.
The fans are restless. The players look unsure. Even the usually unshakable Virgil van Dijk has had moments where he’s looked like a man going through the motions. And into this mix steps Isak, a player who needs confidence like a plant needs water. So far, he’s getting drips. But he needs a flood.
What happens next?
The next few weeks could define Isak’s Liverpool career. A run of fixtures against the Premier League’s bottom half offers a chance to build momentum. A goal here, an assist there, a performance that makes the doubters pause. That’s all it would take. Just one moment where he looks like the player who made Newcastle fans dream.
But football isn’t that simple. One moment can turn into none. A bad run can become a crisis. And £125 million can start to feel like a noose around a club’s neck.
For now, though, Isak is still the great hope. The man who cost more than any British player in history. The striker who’s scored in three straight games. The player who, if everything clicks, could be the difference between a season of disappointment and one of redemption.
Or he could be just another expensive gamble that didn’t pay off.
Time will tell. But one thing’s for sure – no one at Anfield is breathing easy.
