Arne Slot provides fresh Alexander Isak injury update as call imminent on Liverpool star

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Arne Slot has given a fresh update on the condition of £125m striker Alexander Isak as his recovery from a broken leg continuesTo say this wasn't what Alexander Isak was expecting when he completed his £125m move to Liverpool would be the understatement of the season.In a term that's often been blighted by misfortune at Anfield, few have fallen on harder times than the most expensive footballer in British football history.Having agitated to a level that is rarely seen in the modern game to secure his dream transfer from Newcastle United to the Premier League champions, there was an acceptance inside his new club that that Isak would take time to get back to the sort of levels expected of a striker who was only outscored by Mohamed Salah in the previous campaign, having not played for his old club all summer.The Sweden international established himself as one of the finest frontmen in the English game during his time on Tyneside, plundering 54 goals in his three seasons, 44 of which came in the last two.FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE! All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook pageA specially-designed training regime was hatched in an effort to get him as close to 100% as possible having not had a pre-season before his September 1 arrival on Merseyside, but an immediate international break muddied the waters for the Reds, with their new No.9 subsequently going into the care of the Swedish national team.The club remained in close contact with Sweden physio Ben Rosen but a groin injury the following month in the 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt further restricted progress before what has perhaps become a sliding doors moment of his and Liverpool's season; the leg break suffered while scoring in December's 2-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur.Isak hasn't played since and is not expected back for the Reds until the beginning of next month and Arne Slot, speaking on Friday, admitted expectations should be tempered regarding the forward's immediately returning to the level that made him a £125m player."If you ask me now I would say I don’t expect [Isak to go on duty with Sweden]," the head coach says.

"But we are still one and a half weeks off, there is always co-operation between club and country but I don’t expect him to play for us before that."Again, I have to mess up the party again. The last time he did that, it took him a while to get up to speed."I am really, really looking forward to having him back but don’t get the expectations again so high that the minute he is on the pitch, he is at the level of what we spent that money on."If the absence of such a gifted striker wasn't enough for an under-fire boss like Slot to deal with, it has led to an over-reliance on Hugo Ekitike, the only recognised, senior centre-forward in the ranks.Liverpool have been working on the France international's fitness and his ability to consistently sustain his true level across 90 minutes in a competition as demanding and physically intense as the Premier League but the lack of a serious alternative has hurt results, undoubtedly.Slot says: "I don't think it’s been helpful for the team that many times we have felt we are there, another player got injured, another player got injured.

We constantly felt we had to do it with 12-13 players."It is always a boost for a team to have everyone available. Look at the recent PSG game (against Chelsea), when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia came in 30 or so minutes from the end and scored twice."I think Pep Guardiola said as well, how important it is to have your players available because this is such a hard league, we don’t have a winter break and there are so many games."I don’t think there are many clubs in the history of this league who have had a lot of injuries and performed as expected.