Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has offered an update on Alexander Isak's injury recovery and a broad timeline for when the Swedish striker could return to action from a broken leg
09:40, 19 Feb 2026
Liverpool striker Alexander Isak.
Liverpool striker Alexander Isak.(Image: Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)
Arne Slot says Alexander Isak will definitely play again this season, though the Liverpool head coach has admitted that the Reds will have to be patient even when the striker returns to action.
After making a $169 million (£125 million) transfer move from Newcastle United last summer, Isak is yet to show his true level for Liverpool. But it will be another few weeks at least until he is in a position to contribute again.
"Alex has been on the pitch now not with his football shoes but his running shoes for the first time," Slot said. "That will still take a while before he is ready to play for us again.
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"It's not before they go on the pitch, they are just lying in bed 24 hours a day. They also come in and do gym work but, it's nice for him to go on the pitch and nice for us to see him there.
"You do know as a player, then you're in your final stages of rehab. The next step is of course doing work with the ball, which every player likes the most, and then going into the group.
"It takes a while before you're ready to play but it's nice that the rehab has gone well. It is a compliment to him and our medical staff.
Liverpool striker Alexander Isak.
Liverpool striker Alexander Isak.(Image: Shaun Brooks - CameraSport via Getty Images)
"[Pre-season] will give us a different player to we had now but we're expecting a different player at the end of this season compared to the one we had in the first part.
"It makes sense, because I have said 100 times I think that if a player has been out for four or five months, then you cannot expect, with the level we are playing here, he is up to speed straight away.
"Unfortunately for him and us, we haven't used the best Alex yet. But we will see it hopefully before the end of the season and for sure in the upcoming years."
Pressed on exactly when Isak could return, Slot suggested it could be about six weeks away, though even then, the Swede will not be back up to full match sharpness straight away.
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"We all know the moment you go on to the pitch, it doesn't take three months anymore (to be back)," Slot said.
"But these final stages, they are the ones that can make things change. Let's not put a timescale on it but it's clear he will be available if things go as planned this season.
"It will be somewhere around the international break, but it depends on if he gets a setback.
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"It will be around that period — end of March, start of April, when he's back with the group — but that doesn't mean he's then ready to play, let alone start, playing a game of football, and we could all see it took a while before we saw the player from Newcastle."