Alexander Isak ready to embrace new Liverpool era after summer change as challenge becomes clear

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And as the most expensive footballer in British football pulls on the Reds' shirt for the first time since May on Sunday in Chicago, the £125m striker might feel as though he needs to remind more than a few of exactly what all the fuss is about.This time last year, Isak was training alone, using the facilities of his former club Real Sociedad, after refusing to travel on Newcastle United's pre-season tour of the Far East. However, Newcastle - and their owners, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia - were so insistent that their star man stay that Isak almost certainly would not have been transferred had he not agitated so forcefully.Those efforts had a knock-on effect, however, and the lack of a pre-season schedule meant Isak arrived after the Premier League season had started and he was well off the pace.An immediate international break saw him whisked off to Sweden just moments after completing his dream move on September 1.

"He has come to pre-season in a good place, had a good World Cup, feeling comfortable."His first training here, still early but I hope he can play against Leeds and have a proper pre-season. It is not long, but three or four weeks of quality training, I hope and he is in a good place because he is going to be massive for us."Iraola is correct when he says that Isak has a sizable part to play in this new period at Anfield.

With Mohamed Salah - the top scorer in eight of his nine seasons—no longer on Merseyside the goalscoring burden will fall on the Sweden striker, who plundered 44 goals in his final two Premier League seasons at Newcastle.It might not even be too much of a stretch to suggest that the success of the Iraola era rests on Isak getting back to the sort of levels that made him one of the most feared and gifted frontmen in the country during his time on Tyneside.But can he rediscover that magic with the price tag and injury history weighing heavy? He excites the fans which is imperative for a club like Liverpool."It's been too long since Isak has been able to truly excite supporters, but that will all change this weekend at Chicago's Soldier Field, just by stepping on to the pitch.FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE!