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Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has explained Alexander Isak's lack of fitness was the reason he was omitted from Sunday's matchday squad for the trip to Burnley.
Excitement is understandably high among Liverpool supporters following the record-breaking £125million ($169M) signing of Isak from Newcastle United on transfer deadline day, but Slot had warned on Friday there would be need to be patience given the striker's disrupted summer.
That was underlined on Sunday when Isak was left out of the squad altogether to face the Clarets, along with fellow summer signing Giovanni Leoni, while Curtis Jones' omission was anticipated after Slot confirmed in his pre-match press conference that the midfielder had suffered a knock.
Isak was not expected to start on Sunday, most thought the 25-year-old would make a cameo appearance. However, Slot feels the Sweden star is not quite ready at this stage to make his Liverpool debut.
"“Not today. As everybody knew, he didn't have any team training at Newcastle," the Liverpool head coach told Sky Sports ahead of the game.
"He went to the national team and only played for 15, 20 minutes. We think with a week where we play three games in seven days, this is the best lead up for him to be available against Atletico Madrid."
Isak's fitness has been a major talking point since his record-breaking arrival from Newcastle.
Sweden head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson selected the Liverpool star for just 18 minutes across two vital World Cup qualifiers during the international break.
Those are the only on-field minutes the ex-Real Sociedad man has played in nearly four months due to his decision to essentially go on strike at Newcastle, which resulted in him being forced to train away from the team.
Isak has trained with Liverpool this week and even came back early to begin his recuperation, but Slot said on Friday that the player would be handled with care following his arrival.
"Don’t expect him to be every single game 90 minutes on the pitch," said the Dutchman. "That’s definitely not going to happen for the next few weeks.
"He missed a proper pre-season. I think he missed three or four months of team sessions, so now we have to build him up gradually with us playing so many games and hardly any training time.
That is going to be a challenge, but we have not just signed him for the upcoming two weeks, we have signed him for six years so this is what we have to keep in mind, and what the fans have to keep in mind if I take him off in a certain moment or I only bring him in for a few moments. That is all for the fitness of the player."
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