Jose Mourinho has had his say on Alexander Isak's move to Liverpool ahead of facing the Swede's former team, Newcastle United, in the Champions League on Tuesday night
Benfica head coach Jose Mourinho during a press conference
Jose Mourinho spoke out about Alexander Isak's transfer to Liverpool(Image: 2025 Getty Images)
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Alexander Isak has endured a slow start to his Liverpool career as he continues to pay the price for a disjointed summer at former club Newcastle United. The Reds signed the Sweden international in a British record £125m deal on transfer deadline day following a lengthy saga.
The striker had essentially gone on strike at St. James’ Park in a bid to force his exit, as he spent the majority of the summer training on his own and did not make a single appearance for the Magpies throughout pre-season.
Isak has made seven appearances for Liverpool to date since joining the club, returning a goal and an assist, but is yet to score in the Premier League for the Reds.
Arne Slot had previously insisted he expected the 26-year-old to be fully match fit again following the October international break. Yet the forward put in another muted performance in Liverpool’s loss to Manchester United on Sunday.
In contrast, Isak’s replacement at Newcastle, Nick Woltemade is thriving since moving to St. James’ Park in an initial £65m deal from VfB Stuttgart at the end of August.
The German boasts five goals from his first eight appearances for the Magpies, while he also scored once for Stuttgart from three outings prior to his switch to England.
Woltemade and Newcastle will come up against Jose Mourinho’s Benfica in the Champions League on Tuesday night, with the former Chelsea boss understandably wary of the in-form German.
He has been impressed by how quickly Woltemade has settled in at St. James’ Park, in contrast to Isak at Liverpool.
And Mourinho also pointed out that the Swede’s move to Anfield had been inevitable despite Newcastle’s resistance, with the striker ultimately left playing catch-up given how the saga played out.
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"What happened with Isak in the summer is very difficult for a club and very difficult for a coach and very difficult for the fellow players,” Mourinho said. "I think in the end everybody knows he is going to leave to Liverpool.
“But one thing is everybody knows he is going to leave, and another is it is done.
"When it is done you can move on, when it is done you can have a new player and when you have a new player you can start to train and adapt to play with the new player because of course Isak and Nick Woltemade are different players.
"There is always a transition but it looks like this boy (Woltemade) has been playing here all his life.
"Because he is performing, adapting and loved by the fans. Newcastle are doing things right, doing things right."