Winners and Losers of the Alexander Isak Liverpool Transfer

Alexander Isak is finally a Liverpool player! After an excruciatingly lengthy transfer pursuit that stretched over multiple months, the 25-year-old striker has finally gotten his much-desired move to Anfield.

Isak had to go on strike and basically force Newcastle United to green-light his sale to a Premier League rival on the final day of the 2025 summer window. Liverpool, on the other hand, had to break the British transfer record and pay out a fee of around £125 million to sign the Sweden international to add even more firepower to their attacking line.

The Alexander Isak Liverpool deal adds even more firepower to Arne Slot’s squad. He will automatically raise the bar for Liverpool’s attacking style because of his excellent goal-scoring skills. The 25-year-old scored 23 goals in the 2024/25 Premier League campaign for Newcastle United, with only Mohamed Salah outscoring him in the division.

He played a key role in helping Newcastle United win the 2024-25 Carabao Cup, which included a huge goal in the final against Liverpool, something which basically prompted the decision-makers at Anfield to break the bank for him in the summer.

The signing of a world-class striker like Alexander Isak has thrilled Liverpool fans and players alike. There are multiple players in the squad that can really benefit from an agile goalscorer like him.

With that being said, there are a few members of the Liverpool squad that might be negatively impacted by Isak’s arrival too. Here are the winners and losers of the Alexander Isak Liverpool transfer.

Winners of the Alexander Isak Liverpool Transfer

Mohamed Salah

Mohamed Salah has not really had the most encouraging start to the 2025/26 Premier League campaign with Liverpool. He’s only scored one goal from three games, producing some questionable performances in the first few weeks.

Salah might have scored 34 goals in the 2024/25 season for Liverpool, including 29 in the Premier League, but he’s only human and cannot be blamed for being overburdened with the goal-scoring duties at Liverpool.

Fortunately for him, he’s now gotten an ideal goal partner in Alexander Isak to complement him at Anfield.

With a lot of the goal-scoring responsibilities being taken up by the Swedish striker, Salah can now play with more freedom on the pitch. That means the Egyptian forward can take a few more risks with his movement and execution on the pitch, which can perhaps make him an even more dangerous player.

Salah will look to create chances for Isak and go past the 20 assists record in the Premier League this season, while Isak’s presence in the final third could open up more avenues for him to score goals.

Florian Wirtz

Before Liverpool broke the British transfer record to sign Isak, they had done the same with Florian Wirtz’s signing from Bayer Leverkusen.

The German midfielder, however, is showing signs of teething issues at Anfield. He has failed to score a goal or get an assist in his first three Premier League games and looks to be struggling under the intensity of it.

However, Wirtz will be given more time to adapt and find his best form at Liverpool and can now work with an expert strike partner like Alexander Isak.

Wirtz excels at creating chances, as he averaged 6.74 progressive passes in the 2024/25 German Bundesliga. Isak, for one, is an expert at latching onto creative passes in empty spaces in the final third and converting them efficiently.

Wirtz will need some time to create that chemistry with Isak, but once able to do that, he can expect a lot of assists because of Isak’s ruthlessness in front of goal.

Losers of the Alexander Isak Liverpool Transfer

Hugo Ekitike

When Hugo Ekitike arrived, he may have expected to be Liverpool’s first-choice striker. He started well, scoring three in three games, but the Alexander Isak Liverpool transfer changes everything.

The Swedish forward has more experience in scoring goals than Ekitike in the Premier League, and the Reds paid way more money for Alexander Isak, meaning he’ll be prioritised over Ekitike in the No.9 role for the majority of games.

As a result, the Frenchman will now struggle to play as the No.9, meaning he might be benched or played in a rotational role than the regular starter he’s been at the beginning of the campaign.

Cody Gakpo

Cody Gakpo has had a pretty good start to the new Premier League campaign, scoring a goal and providing two assists in three games so far. However, Gakpo has frustrated Liverpool fans at times because of his sloppiness in front of goal and wasting some promising scoring chances.

Now that Ekitike isn’t guaranteed for the No.9 role, there is a chance that Isak’s arrival convinces Arne Slot to use the Frenchman on the left-wing role at times.

That could have a negative impact on Gakpo, who needs to be more consistent with his finishing to be able to preserve his starting role at the club.