Liverpool's £300m Dilemma: Isak's Revival and Ekitike's Return
Liverpool did not tiptoe into the summer of 2025. They kicked the door down.
Fresh from Premier League title glory, the club threw vast sums at a squad they believed could dominate again. Florian Wirtz arrived for £116m, Hugo Ekitike for £69m, and Alexander Isak became the most expensive player in British football when he left St James’ Park for Anfield. It was a statement, and an expensive one.
The reality has been far messier.
Big fees, slow returns
Wirtz, the German playmaker expected to light up Anfield, never quite grabbed the season by the scruff of the neck. His influence flickered instead of burned. Ekitike’s campaign was wrecked in April by an Achilles injury. Isak’s start was even more cursed: no pre-season, then a broken leg, then a return that spluttered rather than roared.
Four goals. Across all competitions. From the most expensive signing in British football history.
By the time 2026-27 rolled around, the questions grew sharper. Was Isak really the man to lead Liverpool’s attack? Could he stay fit long enough to justify the outlay? And how long would patience last at a club that has grown used to relentless output from its centre-forwards?
Isak has answered some of that, at least for now. Three goals in his last two Premier League games have changed the mood. The movement looks sharper. The finishes cleaner. That heavy price tag still hangs around his neck, but the conversation has shifted from “what’s gone wrong?” to “is this the turning point?”
For Arne Slot’s successor Iraola, one problem has eased. The number nine shirt no longer feels like a burden.
Ekitike looming in the background
Ekitike is expected back around the turn of the year. When he returns, the dynamic changes again.
On paper, his absence has cleared a path for Isak. No direct, like-for-like challenger. No weekly debate over who should start through the middle. So has the Swede been lucky to grow back into form without a rival breathing down his neck?
Jermaine Pennant does not buy that.
Speaking to GOAL in association with NetBet Casino, the former Liverpool winger argued that a fit Ekitike would not necessarily have pushed Isak out, but joined him.
“I wouldn't say fortunate because I think they would have found a way maybe to play them both,” Pennant said.
He pointed to timing and form. Cody Gakpo was struggling. Ekitike, he noted, likes to drift out to the left. In that scenario, Pennant could easily have seen Isak starting down the middle with Ekitike operating from the left, driving inside on his right foot, much like Gakpo does, and at times forming a two-pronged front line.
“But they are two good players, great players and you can't have a player like that sitting on your bench,” he added. “They would have made a way, I think, for them both to play at some point.”
That is the puzzle Iraola will soon have to solve: how to fit expensive, high-profile attackers into a coherent, ruthless unit without blunting any of them.
Pressure from the past – and from the stands
The scrutiny on Isak has never been just about numbers. It has been about expectation.
Robbie Fowler, still revered as ‘God’ on the Kop, admitted before this season that he was worried about both Isak’s fitness and his ability to live up to the fee. Speaking to GOAL, he did not sugar-coat the stakes for the Swede.
Asked if Isak had to deliver this term to end talk of more attacking reinforcements, Fowler replied: “Absolutely. And that's the case with the managers as well. The manager [Arne Slot] obviously didn’t deliver in the second year, so people questioned that. And as we all know, if people start questioning things, then there’s only one way you go.”
The message was blunt. At Liverpool, doubt is dangerous. Once it creeps in, it rarely retreats quietly.
Isak has tried to silence some of that noise on the pitch. He found the net against Nottingham Forest. He scored again versus Ipswich. These are not season-defining fixtures, but for a striker searching for rhythm, they matter.
Europe, though, brought a reminder that this story is still being written. In Liverpool’s opening Champions League game of 2026-27, a 2-1 comeback win over Atletico Madrid at Anfield, Isak failed to score. The team found a way. He did not. On nights like that, centre-forwards at Liverpool are judged harshly.
Barcola and the coming storm
As if the attacking picture was not crowded enough, Liverpool have gone big again.
France international Bradley Barcola has arrived for £123m, another huge swing in the market and another signal that this club will not sit still. Barcola offers pace, width, and directness. He also brings a fresh selection headache that will not be easily soothed.
When Ekitike is fit, Iraola could be choosing from Isak, Ekitike, Barcola, Gakpo, Wirtz and others for his forward line. Some will sit. Some will sulk. All will expect to play.
For now, Isak has the shirt and the goals to justify it. The spark that once seemed lost is flickering back into life. But with Ekitike on the mend and Barcola stepping through the door, how long before Liverpool’s record signing has to prove himself all over again?
