Robbie Fowler Worries Alexander Isak Could Lose Liverpool Fitness
Robbie Fowler says alexander isak may report back to Liverpool short of the fitness level the club wants after Sweden picked him for the World Cup. The Liverpool legend said the striker’s tournament involvement could leave him without a full pre-season, and he called that a concern after a first year in which Isak was limited by injury.
“I'll be honest with you, I'm a little bit worried about this actually, because he hasn't been fit this year,” Fowler said. “It worries me a little bit from a Liverpool point of view, because I know he'll go and play in the World Cup.”
Fowler’s Liverpool concern
The issue is timing. Isak joined Liverpool in the summer of 2025 for £125 million, and Fowler’s worry is that a World Cup run with Sweden will cut into the main pre-season block Liverpool would normally use to reset him for 2026-27. He said, “I don't think he's going to be as fit as what we'd like as a Liverpool fan.”
That concern comes after a difficult first campaign. Isak finished the 2025-26 season with four goals, and a broken leg kept him sidelined for the best part of four months. He opened his Premier League goal account for Liverpool in November, then scored his first home league goal in late April.
Isak’s first Liverpool season
The numbers from Newcastle explain why Liverpool paid such a large fee. Isak left with 62 goals in 109 appearances, including more than 20 Premier League goals in back-to-back seasons. Liverpool fought hard to complete the deal, then made a historically large financial commitment to bring him in.
That burden is part of why Fowler expects the start of 2026-27 to matter. He said Isak will need to begin strongly to convince Liverpool supporters and manager Andoni Iraola, and he added, “I hope I'm proved wrong, of course I am, but it worries me slightly that he's going to come into next season and probably not get that main pre-season behind him, which is probably what he's needed.”
Sweden and pre-season
Sweden’s World Cup selection leaves Liverpool facing a straightforward problem: their £125 million striker may be useful in June and July, but less prepared when the club’s next league campaign starts. Fowler did not question the move itself; his point was that tournament football can delay the physical work Liverpool would probably want after a season disrupted by injury.
That is the tension for the club now. Liverpool bought Isak to lead the line, but his first year brought only four goals and long stretches away from the pitch. If the World Cup trims the recovery and training time he needs, the first weeks of 2026-27 become a test of how quickly he can look like the striker Liverpool paid for.
