Liverpool have been told how to get the best out of Alexander Isak as the £125m record transfer closes in on a return from injury.
And Emile Heskey believes that Isak can play up front alongside the club’s other big summer striker signing Hugo Ekitike.
The Sweden international has been sidelined since sustaining a serious leg injury, which included a fractured fibula, when scoring Liverpool’s opening goal in the 2-1 Premier League triumph at Tottenham Hotspur on December 6.
Isak is not fit enough to return to the squad for Saturday’s trip to Brighton & Hove Albion, which is the Reds’ final fixture before the international break.
But the 26-year-old was spotted working on his own outdoors at the AXA Training Centre on Tuesday ahead of the 4-0 Champions League win over Galatasaray at Anfield.
That raises the prospect of Isak returning to full training at the end of this month and playing again in April.
And it has been confirmed that the former Newcastle United star will remain at Liverpool’s training ground over the international break after he was not called up for Sweden’s crucial World Cup qualifier for Ukraine despite speculation suggesting the contrary.
That means his full focus will be on upping his rehabilitation and returning for the Reds for what could yet be an exciting end to the campaign.
Isak’s start to life on Merseyside mirrored his new team’s struggles after they won the Premier League last season with his sharp finish at Tottenham only his third goal in 16 appearances following his protracted, bitter move from Newcastle, which broke the British transfer record.
And Heskey, who was part of the famous Liverpool side that won a cup treble 25 years ago, has been speaking about how Arne Slot must find a way to get the best out a player who plundered 62 goals in 109 appearances on Tyneside.
He said: “Obviously, playing him centrally would help, and giving him freedom and supply. You’ve got to supply him.
“You’ve got to remember the Isak that we saw doing really well at Newcastle was supplied. Balls coming into the box, balls coming into him, balls being slid down the side. And I think with (Florian) Wirtz, you’ll get that.
“The only thing is you might not get it from the wing, and that’s where you saw a lot of his chances before - early crosses into the box and he’s getting on the end of them. You might not see a lot of that, but you’ve got to give him supply.”
The attacking wide areas could well be an area the Reds address in the summer. But another issue concerns who starts in the central striking position given the impact made by Ekitike.
The 23-year-old made it 17 goals in 41 games following his £79m summer switch from Eintracht Frankfurt when scoring in Wednesday’s demolition of Galatasaray, which set up a huge quarter-final showdown with the France international’s former club Paris Saint-Germain.
And Heskey, speaking to BetVictor Online Casino, said: “They could play up front together.. The only thing is, do teams play with two up front? That’s the only issue. I don’t think many teams do.
“I think those two could play together as a front two. They’re very clever players, especially Ekitike, but there’s got to be an understanding that both of you can’t swarm out wide and stand out there. One has got to stay central and the other one has got to be running and moving the defence.
“But yes, I do see that they could play together. Even when Ekitike was up front at the weekend (against Tottenham), when he came on he ended up on the left wing, then on the right wing, then in the middle. He likes to float all over the place anyway.”
