Alexander Isak appears to be on the cusp of making a long-awaited return to action for Liverpool, having been sidelined for almost four months with a broken leg.
The Reds’ record signing suffered a serious injury in the 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur just before Christmas and has missed a huge chunk of his first season at Anfield, having already had a stop-start beginning to life at Merseyside prior to that major setback.
The FA Cup defeat to Manchester City last weekend came a bit too soon for him to make the matchday squad, but it looks increasingly plausible that he could be among the travelling party for the trip to face Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night.
As per Liverpool Echo, Isak trained with the Liverpool squad on Tuesday lunchtime as they continue their preparations for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final, and that involvement suggests he could be bound for Paris later today.
There were no unexpected absentees from the session at the AXA Training Centre, with Alisson Becker, Wataru Endo, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni having already been precluded from partaking due to their respective injury issues.
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Isak has been horrendously unlucky with injuries since joining Liverpool seven months ago, and his return to action will be a welcome sight for the Reds, even if it’s likely to be done on a phased basis rather than being thrown straight in at the deep end.
The likelihood is that, even if the 26-year-old is passed fit to play against PSG, he’ll begin on the bench and Hugo Ekitike will start at centre-forward, but being able to count on him for 15-20 minutes potentially would still be a tremendous boost for Arne Slot.
The Frenchman has been largely terrific in his first season at Anfield but the strain of carrying the burden in the absence of the ex-Newcastle marksman seems to have taken its toll lately, with LFC’s number 22 scoring just twice in his last 11 appearances.
Isak will naturally take a few matches to properly get back up to speed, but if he can chip in with even a couple of goals in the final weeks of the campaign, that contribution could yet tip the scales towards Liverpool qualifying for the Champions League instead of missing out.
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