David Segar of Opta Analyst looks at why Liverpool broke the British transfer record for Alexander Isak and what he will bring to Anfield.
Alexander Isak has joined Liverpool on a reported six-year contract on Transfer Deadline Day to further bolster an already exciting squad in another huge statement of intent from the defending champions.
We have drilled down into the Sweden international’s data to see why the English champions have been willing to shell out more money than any British club ever have for a player before.
More than just goals
When you sign a striker, you expect goals, and surely Liverpool will be getting plenty of those.
Isak has scored 52 goals for Newcastle United in all competitions across the last two seasons, with 44 coming in the Premier League.
Watch all of Isak's Premier League goals
Only Erling Haaland (49) and Mohamed Salah (47) scored more Premier League goals across the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons than Isak (44), with the Swede playing six games fewer than his new Liverpool team-mate (64 to 70). If you just look at non-penalty goals, only Haaland (39) is above Isak (35), with Salah scoring 33.
Most non-penalty goals across 2023/24 and 2024/25
| Player | Games | Non-penalty goals |
| Erling Haaland | 62 | 39 |
|---|---|---|
| Alexander Isak | 64 | 35 |
| Mohamed Salah | 70 | 33 |
| Ollie Watkins | 75 | 33 |
| Chris Wood | 67 | 31 |
Where Salah is miles ahead of the other two is assists in that time (28), with Haaland and Isak only managing eight apiece.
However, an assist is just a created chance that was finished well, and in Isak’s defence, Newcastle were understandably set up to provide for him, so it was perhaps harder for him to rack up assists. He can certainly be a creative player, though.
In 2023/24, only three Newcastle players created more chances from open play than Isak’s 27 in the Premier League, though he only recorded two assists. There were also only three team-mates ahead of him for open-play chances created last season, while only Jacob Murphy (12) managed more than his six assists.
In December 2024, Isak notably scored eight more Premier League goals than anyone else, but he also created the most chances from open play (19) of anyone in the competition.
Last season was comfortably his best creatively, totalling 50 open-play chances for Newcastle in all competitions, at least 19 more than his next best career season, which was 2023/24, with 31. His 1.33 open-play chances created per 90 were also the best in a season for Isak to date.
That is something that has the potential develop even further at Liverpool. While Isak will be the central striker, the onus shouldn’t be as focused on him to be on the end of every move, with more options around him in the likes of Salah, Hugo Ekitike, Cody Gakpo and Florian Wirtz to finish off attacks.
Isak is a striker, it should be emphasised. He did play around 24 per cent of his Premier League minutes in his first season at Newcastle on the left, but has since almost exclusively been a centre-forward.
He outlined that in an interview with Newcastle legend Alan Shearer last season, telling the BBC: “I would say [I see myself] as a centre-forward, that’s my position. I feel comfortable receiving the ball on the left side but I haven’t really been as good in the games I’ve started as a left winger.”
Isak is also more involved in games than many other Premier League centre-forwards. He averaged 36.8 touches per 90 in the 2024/25 season.
That’s more than the man he is essentially replacing at Anfield, Darwin Nunez (33.2), as well as Nicolas Jackson (30.9), Jean-Philippe Mateta (28.3), Ollie Watkins (27.0), Chris Wood (25.0), Evanilson (24.3) and, perhaps unsurprisingly, Haaland (22.9).
He also won possession in the final third an average of 0.6 times per 90, the same as Salah and Gakpo, and only slightly less often than Nunez and Diogo Jota (0.7). You could argue that was partly due to Newcastle not being as aggressive in their press as Liverpool, too. The Reds averaged 4.3 possession wins in the final third per game last season to Newcastle’s 3.6.
Of centre-forwards, only Evanilson (24), Jackson (20) and Mateta (20) won possession in the final third in the Premier League more often than Isak (18).
His improvements creatively and out of possession are another reason Liverpool will have paid so much money for him and reportedly handed him a six-year deal. Isak turns 26 later this month, but the Reds will believe they are getting him in his peak years, and with the opportunity to even further develop an already world-class striker.
But...he is largely goals
Fundamentally, Liverpool are paying the money they are because Isak feels as close to a guarantee for productivity in the final third as you are going to get without being able to sign one of Haaland or Kylian Mbappe.
We’ve already mentioned Isak’s goal totals, but it’s not just the basic numbers. He has managed to rack up some very impressive landmarks in his time on Tyneside.
Isak became only the third Newcastle player to score 10+ goals both home and away in a single Premier League campaign last season, after Andrew Cole (1993/94) and Shearer (2001/02), while he also recorded his 50th Premier League goal in just his 76th appearance in the competition, with only six players scoring 50 goals in fewer appearances.
Isak overtook Freddie Ljungberg (48) as the leading Swedish scorer in Premier League history during the 2024/25 campaign, while he also became just the fourth different player to score in eight successive Premier League appearances, after Jamie Vardy (twice for Leicester City), Ruud van Nistelrooy (twice for Manchester United), and Daniel Sturridge (for Liverpool).
Across 2024, Isak found the net a total of 25 times in the Premier League, the most for the Magpies in a calendar year since Shearer scored 27 in 2002.
It will also be important for Liverpool that he generally turns up in big games; Isak scored against Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Man Utd last season.
It is hardly a shock to reveal that Isak was one of the more ruthless finishers in the Premier League in 2024/25. His non-penalty shot conversion rate was 26.4 per cent from 95 shots; only four players (with a minimum of 50 shots) had higher, two of whom were Newcastle new-boy Yoane Wissa (27.5 per cent) and reported alternative target Jorgen Strand Larsen (28.6 per cent). Isak’s conversion rate was higher than both Haaland (21.6 per cent) and Salah (21.1 per cent).
Something Arne Slot will also like about his new acquisition is his movement. The best strikers get themselves into positions to score often, and Isak’s off-the-ball running will certainly be of interest to the likes of Salah and Wirtz in particular.
When Newcastle were in possession last season, Isak made 113 runs to become a cross option for his team-mates, with only nine players in the Premier League making more.
Possibly more notable, though, is that only 14 players made more runs in behind than Isak’s 287, with Salah (389) the only Liverpool player to record a higher number.
On top of that, 13 Premier League players saw more of their runs in behind lead to a team shot, which is something Liverpool get plenty of now from Salah. His runs in behind last season led to 77 shots at goal from him or team-mates, at least 29 more than any other player in the Premier League.
That could be an area Slot wants to develop in Isak to add another dimension to his team, but also the player. As Liverpool see more of the ball than Newcastle and start more attacks, that should in theory give him more opportunities to make those runs.
There is also the fact that Salah will miss around a month of the season in December/January due to the Africa Cup of Nations, but on top of that, the Egyptian will also eventually end his time at Liverpool, and the club will need to know they still have plenty of goals in the team. In theory, Isak goes a long way to remedying that.
Salah signed a two-year extension towards the end of last season, but he can’t go on for ever. It appears Liverpool are making sure that when he leaves, there is a potent attack in place that will allow a seamless transition into a post-Salah era.
With Isak (25 years old), Ekitike (23), Wirtz (22), Gakpo (26) fresh off signing a new deal, and the hero of last week’s win at Newcastle Rio Ngumoha only turning 17 on Friday, Liverpool have a raft of attackers either just starting their careers or about to enter their peak years.
Liverpool have been very vocal about their aim this season being to try and win everything possible. That therefore means they must assume they will play over 60 games in all competitions, so having depth will be vital. All of their forwards will get plenty of time on the pitch.
If Isak can replicate the form he showed at Newcastle, his new club will be more than happy. If he can improve further still, then it really will be quite the spectacle.
Who knows, a few years from now perhaps the reported fee of £125million might be seen as somewhat of a bargain.