Michael Owen Reveals Why Alexander Isak Could Be Liverpool’s Secret Weapon This Season

Liverpool’s frantic chase for Alexander Isak culminated in a dramatic final-day swoop that had every footy fan on the edge of their seat. The Swedish striker didn’t come cheap—a staggering £125 million outlay—and he lands in a star-studded frontline featuring none other than last season’s Premier League Golden Boot winner, Mohamed Salah, alongside the flashy £79 million arrival Hugo Ekitike. It’s clear the Reds aren’t messing around; they’ve doubled down on firepower, aiming to blaze a trail this season. Former Liverpool ace Michael Owen, who knows a thing or two about deadly forward lines himself, wasn’t shocked by this aggressive build-up. To him, it’s just Liverpool’s way of stacking the deck even higher. Curious to see what Owen thinks about this summer’s saga and what it might mean on the pitch? LEARN MORE.

Alexander Isak to Liverpool was the summer’s big transfer saga, with the Reds finally getting their man on the final day of the window.

The Swede cost Liverpool £125million and joins an attack that already has last season’s Premier League Golden Boot winner Mohamed Salah, plus £79million summer signing Hugo Ekitike in their ranks.

But former Reds striker Michael Owen – ranked at no.39 in FourFourTwo’s list of the greatest Liverpool players ever – believes that it was little surprise that Liverpool to build strength on strength this summer.

Owen on Isak to Liverpool

“Last season, he was arguably the best centre forward in the world, he was just incredible,” Owen tells FourFourTwo. “A great finisher, intelligent, good touch, size, presence and personality. It was not a surprise that Liverpool wanted him, but it was always going to be an ambitious deal, especially as they still needed to strengthen elsewhere.”

The transfer saga saw Isak refusing to train at Newcastle, instead opting to maintain his fitness at former club Real Sociedad’s training ground this summer, with the deal only getting done after the Magpies had brought in replacements in the form of Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa.

“You cannot condone refusing to play or train,” adds Owen. “But I understood, in a way, he saw this as an opportunity of a lifetime. You only get one life, one career. Maybe he saw this as his chance to play for probably the best team in the world – as Liverpool presently are. It sounded fairly amicable at the start, when he made his feelings known. But then it just descended into a mess.”

“He started playing every trick in the book to try to force his move,” says Owen. “The writing was on the wall from the moment the back-and-forth statements came out. There was no way he could go back to Newcastle. Despite their public stance, I think that’s when the club started looking for the best deal they could get for him.”

So what can Liverpool fans expect from their front line this season?

“It could be the most formidable attack in world football,” Owen insists. “It’s not like it used to be when you had certain players for certain positions and that was that. There are so many games, there’s so much rotation, that everyone is key.

“Liverpool have an abundance of attacking options, but every top club should have that problem if they want to compete on all fronts.

“They can’t all play every game – there will be a lot of matches, there will be injuries, there will be losses of form. It’ll be interesting when everyone is fit and there’s a big game – who will Arne Slot choose to start? But that’s a problem every manager would be envious of.”