Liverpool broke the British transfer record to sign Alexander Isak from Newcastle, fully aware that he would be put under pressure from the first moment. The Swede can block out the noise from elsewhere, but those within the club are already forcing the 26-year-old to get up to speed quickly.
While a drawn-out transfer saga lasted up until the final day of the summer window, fellow new boy Hugo Ekitike hit the ground running and became an instant Anfield favourite. With four goals in 11 appearances, Isak has competition up top and Arne Slot has been urged to play the pair together.
He has been reluctant to do so thus far, with a 4-3-3 preferred after its success last season, while Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo have nailed down positions on the wing.
Liverpool icons have been in agreement that Slot needs to tweak his plans in order to play both Ekitike and Isak, or risk upsetting the pair of them.
Jamie Carragher said as much on The Overlap: “So we always play under Slot, don’t we, 4-2-3-1? That may now have to change – in terms of getting the players in. Because you know, when you’ve spent that sort, you know, type of money on the players. I mentioned about [Florian] Wirtz maybe coming out the team, but that couldn’t last forever.
“He’s cost over £100m. You’ve got to try and make that work. So I’m sort of intrigued how he how he does it going forward, how he gets these players into the team. Because I even think Ekitike and Isak, he’s got to find a way. Find a way.
“You can’t have it every week if Isak starts and he comes on off with 20 minutes to go. You have got to find a way where they can play together at some stage.”
Ian Rush, who scored 199 goals across two spells for Liverpool, believes that it should only be a matter of time before Isak and Ekitike are thrown in together.
“It (Isak and Ekitike starting together) wouldn’t surprise me,” Rush said on talkSPORT.
“I think you have to look at all the options. The most important thing with Arne Slot is he looks at the opposition and he decides who to play when he sees the opposition. So it wouldn’t surprise me.”
Carragher and Rush’s pleas were echoed by Ekitike himself, who insisted that he wants to “share the pitch” with the new Liverpool number nine.
He told TNT Sports: “He’s a very, very good player. I always watched him before I came here. For me, him being here is really good; I can learn and improve myself.
“There’s competition, but I know we’re going to play together and make a difference. I hope one day we’re going to share the pitch. It’s the coach’s problem. For me, I just do my job, so it’s really good.”
