After a year away, Alexander Isak is back to terrorising Premier League goalkeepers, with his trademark lethal finishing finally arriving at Liverpool.

Some supporters had questioned whether the Reds had signed a £125m dud after seeing Isak struggle to settle in during an injury-hit first year at Anfield, but those worries have been answered by an early-season record of six goals in seven matches.

Liverpool weren’t certain Isak could adapt

The reason Liverpool spent so heavily to bring Isak in last summer was because they needed a No. 9 having sold Darwin Nunez, and saw the 27-year-old as the biggest guarantee of success. Though he took a while to prove that to be true, Isak is now doing it.

As The Times report, Michael Edwards was a big factor in Liverpool deciding to go after Isak, reportedly choosing to focus on signing an out-and-out striker to eventually replace Mohamed Salah, rather than signing a like-for-like swap for the Egyptian.

Liverpool are said to have had no doubts at all about Isak’s quality, but were slightly worried about whether he would be able to adapt to a different game for the Reds.

Erling Haaland has made a habit of being less involved in matches only to pop up with a vital goal or two, and Reds’ insiders were said to be ruminating on whether Isak would be able to do something similar for them.

The Sweden international looked to be hampered by his lack of involvement during his first year with Liverpool, but, thankfully, he now looks to have embraced being a player who only needs one chance to do maximum damage.

Liverpool have the tools to help Isak succeed

Part of the reason Isak could not fully adapt to being less involved last season was because Liverpool just did not have the quality around him to make up for it.

Salah’s decline was alarming, while others such as Cody Gakpo and Florian Wirtz simply did not look able to supply the No. 9 with the ball in killer areas.

Improvement in Gakpo and Wirtz, the arrival of Bradley Barcola and the development of Rio Ngumoha has changed that dramatically, and Barcola and Gakpo have set Isak up to score two and three times respectively this season.

If you are to actively deploy a striker who is expected to hardly touch the ball, you need others there to step up and do the hard work for him. Liverpool now have that.

Isak and Barcola are especially looking to click, and the Frenchman is a big part of the reason why Liverpool should no longer have any concerns about this topic.

More is still needed from Isak, but he is certainly now on the right pathway, and though they have had to wait a while to be vindicated, Liverpool’s decision to go after the best in the business in 2025 is finally bearing fruit.