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Julian Ward must know the first signing he needs to make at Liverpool as injury news emerges…

alexander isak

Liverpool recently appointed Julian Ward to replace Richard Hughes as their sporting director, and he might already know the first signing he needs to make at Anfield.

Hughes made a departure from Anfield recently as he made the move to Saudi Arabia. Ward has now come in as his successor, most recently serving as FSG's technical director.

Ward has spent 14 years with Liverpool, so he certainly knows the club more than most, and he'll know what the priority problems are that need sorting as soon as possible.

There's no doubt Liverpool do have some issues within Andoni Iraola's squad at the moment, and they'll need to be resolved if they want to head back in the right direction.

The full-back issues have been discussed heavily, but the striker position could be a concern for the Merseyside club.

Alexander Isak recently returned to Liverpool after picking up an injury while on international duty with Sweden. Although potentially only a small injury, the number of fitness issues he's picked up in recent years could be a concern.

Alexander Isak's injury history

In his first season at the club, Isak missed 33 games, and being unavailable has been a regular occurrence for him over the last few years.

The previous campaign he missed seven matches, while he was in double figures for games missed in the two seasons before that.

Liverpool are currently without Hugo Ekitike with a long-term injury, so losing Isak for any period could be a crucial blow for the club.

As a result, Ward needs to be looking to bring in a new striker during the January transfer window to deepen Iraola's options in attack.

Alexander Isak in action for Liverpool

Alexander Isak in action for Liverpool

Hugo Ekitike still months away

via Reuters

Ekitike is still months away from returning to action, and it wouldn't be a surprise if he wasn't fully fit until towards the end of the campaign.

There's no guarantee that the Liverpool forward is even the same player again, or at least not for a long time.

Liverpool also suffered another huge blow in attack after Cody Gakpo was substituted due to injury on Sunday evening.

If Ekitike and Isak are injured, Gakpo is likely to be the third-choice striker, so that could mean Iraola is without his three main striker options after the international break.

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