One Liverpool player has been really trying to help Alexander Isak settle in at Anfield

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Virgil van Dijk has been trying to help Alexander Isak settle in since he joined Liverpool on transfer deadline day.

Seeing as though Isak is only just getting to full fitness, the Reds’ fans are yet to see the best version of their £125 million man.

Slot has tried Isak out in all sorts of formations since he chose to make the switch to Anfield, with none managing to get the best out of him just yet.

However, a lot of this is likely down to the Sweden international needing to get used to a new environment and an entirely new style of play that doesn’t centre around him.

Isak is a renowned goal-scorer, and he’s already proved that he can more than hold his own in the Premier League; however, he just hasn’t settled in yet.

However, this doesn’t mean that Liverpool’s first-team squad haven’t been trying to get him used to the way things work with Van Dijk even being “important” to helping him get to that point.

Virgil van Dijk has played an ‘important’ role in getting Alexander Isak bedded in at Liverpool

Liverpool spent a hefty chunk of change in the summer transfer window, with Isak being their most expensive purchase of the lot.

The former Newcastle man cost Liverpool £125 million to prise away from St James’ Park in the summer, despite them being interested in him since June.

And, just as he was getting fit and starting to play the full 90 minutes in games, Isak was taken off with a groin injury, which could rule him out for Saturday’s game against Brentford.

Questions are already being asked about whether the number nine was even worth Liverpool buying at all, with The Athletic journalist Andy Jones claiming that Van Dijk has been one of the main people trying to get the striker settled in.

“I mean, the main thing is that they’ve been playing him, ultimately, because they could have sort of fed him in, but they’ve tried to give him as much football as possible,” he said on The Athletic FC Podcast.

“I think the general feeling is he settled well. You know, he’s got on with the group of players.

“I think Van Dijk’s been quite important in trying to help him settle. And, you know, he threw himself into the fitness program that Liverpool set up for him to try and get him up to speed as quickly as possible.”

Alexander Isak may end up getting replaced by Hugo Ekitike in Liverpool’s starting XI

Ever since the 2025-26 season kicked off, there has been a debate about who Arne Slot’s number one striker is going to be.

On paper, you’d think that it was an easy choice and that Isak would be the man to lead the Reds’ attacking line.

However, due to the form that Hugo Ekitike has been in since making the move to Anfield, the Frenchman has quickly become the more likely of the two to start each game.

Recently, Slot has been trying to get Isak to start more games, but when the duo were played alongside one another on Wednesday, it was clear that Ekitike was the much better player for Liverpool at the moment.

If Liverpool want to build upon their Champions League win and don’t want to revert to the poor form they’ve shown over the last month or so, it’s clear that Isak needs to be dropped for Ekitike.