Arne Slot has confirmed that British record signing Alexander Isak is line to make his Liverpool debut against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday – but made clear it will not be for the whole 90 minutes.
Liverpool take on the Spaniards in their opening Uefa Champions League group-stage clash at Anfield having enjoyed four wins out of four so far in the early stages of their bid to retain the Premier League title.
All four of those matches have needed late goals to secure all three points, the latest of which down to an injury-time penalty from Mohamed Salah against Burnley on Sunday.
Reds coach Slot revealed before the game at Turf Moor that Isak – signed for £125 million from Newcastle United after a protracted transfer that dominated the summer headlines – had not played enough football to be considered and had been left out of the match-day squad.
The Swedish striker had not kicked a competitive ball since the end of last season until the recent international break when he twice appeared off the bench in World Cup qualifiers.
But Slot said on Tuesday that the 25-year-old was in the squad to take on Diego Simeone's side and could make his debut.
“Definitely a chance because he's in the squad and the chance to play, I would usually say 99.9 per cent sure but I can say 100 per cent sure he will not play 90 minutes but he's part of the squad," said the Dutch coach in Tuesday's pre-match press conference.
“It's already a Champions League game to look forward to but if people look forward to his playing time that could mean that could happen tomorrow as well.”
On whether Isask might start the match, Slot added: “The only thing we're sure of is he will not play 90.”
Isak, who scored 62 goals in 109 games for Newcastle, spent a majority of pre-season training on his own after demanding a move from Merseyside to Tyneside – not playing in any of the Magpies' friendly matches or opening games of the Premier League campaign.
But Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk revealed that his new teammate was clearly keen to make an immediate impact during training despite his summer of inactivity.
“Very good impression, very eager,” said Dutch defender Van Dijk. “Obviously the quality he's been showing already since the first session.
“Only positives and off the pitch as well, we're having conversations – I spoke to him during the international break once everything was sorted.
“It's now about getting him as fit as possible and to understand each one of us as quickly as possible. How we train, how we press, our set pieces so it's been a good week for him and let's see tomorrow.”
Slot, meanwhile, insisted he was pleased with the team's perfect start to the new campaign after undergoing a major squad overhaul over the summer.
Apart from Isak, the likes of Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike arrived on Merseyside, while Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Jarrell Quansah were among those heading for the Anfield exit.
“We are far above my expectations during the summer.,” said Slot. "We all know what happened this summer and for us to be on 12 points from these fixtures is so much more than I expected, especially after so many changes in our group.
“I think we can do better but we're not every time going to face Newcastle away and Arsenal at home. Someone told me that it's the first time Burnley lost a home game and it tells you how hard it is to play these games and win.
“There's so much focus on our new signings and especially pundits who favour, not us, but some other clubs in the country that cannot stop talking about £450m, I repeat £450m, £450m but always forget the £300m that we've sold.
“These players we've brought in are a lot of money but are playing now with players worth the same amount of money.
“If we want to strengthen the squad we have to spend that money. If we were to sell Dominik Szoboszlai tomorrow he'd be worth £100m as well.”
Wednesday's opponents Atletico secured their first victory of the season at the weekend when they defeated Villarreal 2-0 at the Metropolitano Stadium, thanks to goals in each half from Pablo Barrios and Nicolas Gonzalez.
Their opening three games had yielded just two points so Saturday's victory brought welcome relief to Atleti, although manager Simeone suffered a blow when forward Julian Alvarez failed to appear for the second half.
The Argentine World Cup winner – and former Manchester City player – has been ruled out of Wednesday's match.
