The former Magpies striker is struggling for form and goals after his £130m transfer to Liverpool
Alexander Isak failed to have an impact in Liverpool's Premier League defeat Nottingham Forest
Alexander Isak has scored just once since his move from Newcastle to Liverpool
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Alexander Isak's agent has to take much of the blame for the Swedish striker's slump in form after his drawn-out summer transfer saga, according to former Manchester City and Chelsea star Shaun Wright-Phillips.
The striker effectively went on strike in August in a bid to force through a move from Newcastle United to Liverpool, a deal which finally went through in the last stages of the tansfer window for a record £130m.
It was a damaging period for Newcastle's transfer strategy, but it has been Isak who has perhaps suffered more, with the 26-year-old struggling to find his form at Anfield.
He has scored just once in a Liverpool shirt, and has lost each of his four Premier League starts as Arne Slot's side have failed to match last season's success.
It has led to calls for him to be dropped from the Reds' starting line-up in favour of Hugo Ekitike, with Liverpool facing PSV in the Champions League tonight.
However, Wright-Phillips feels Isak's agent should shoulder much of the blame due to the striker's stance over the summer, which meant he missed almost the entire pre-season schedule.
"I would say Alexander Isak, but I know how tough it is to miss pre-season and then come into the league a little behind people," Wright-Phillips told BestBettingSites.
"I think the agent has to take plenty of the blame. Everything about that move was handled in the wrong way.
"There was no reason for him to miss training, and he would have been advised to do that, to kick up a stink. I think that was a bad idea, and he should have gone to training and got a full pre-season behind him.
"Whether he was at Newcastle or Liverpool, he’d have hit the ground running. Now he’s chasing everyone, two weeks behind, playing catch-up.
"When you miss pre-season, you’re at more risk of breaking down and getting injured. You get thrown into games without proper conditioning. It’s all well and good training on your own but it just doesn’t match up to a pre-season with your team-mates.
"It's not enough work. The workload and strengthening they’re doing is completely different, so he needs to catch up. He needs to do it quickly, too, because he looks uncomfortable right now."
All eyes will be on the Liverpool teamsheet this evening, with Ekitike expected to return as Slot looks to rotate his attacking options - although Wright-Phillips feels Isak still needs more minutes.
"I think the manager already has made his mind up with that because Isak started on the weekend," he added. "I thought that was because he was planning to get Ekitike in from the start this week, and he was using the Forest game to give Isak minutes.
"The problem is, Liverpool’s performance was just so bad that it was almost a waste. Isak didn’t get much to work with, wasn’t getting the repetitions in to shoot or to be part of the attack.
"So there's a lot he missed from that game, which was not just his fault, but he's got to find a way to hit the ground running and hit it soon because Liverpool need him. The players need him. So he's under a lot of pressure at the minute."