Arne Slot secured the Premier League title in his inaugural season as Liverpool’s manager.
Liverpool’s manager, Arne Slot, has responded to commentary surrounding the club’s summer transfer activity, taking aim at pundits he believes are “favouring other clubs.” His remarks come as he prepares to debut Alexander Isak.
Liverpool’s acquisition of Swedish striker Isak from Newcastle, finalized on deadline day for a British record fee of £125 million, brought their total spending to £450 million across eight players.
Isak is slated to make his first appearance for the Reds in their Champions League opener against Atletico Madrid at Anfield on Wednesday.
During his pre-match press conference, Slot highlighted that Liverpool’s significant expenditure was balanced by over £250 million generated from player sales, contrasting with the previous summer when only £10 million was spent.
“There is so much focus on our new signings, especially from pundits that favour some other clubs in the country that cannot stop talking about £450m,” Slot stated.
“I repeat, £450m, £450m! But they forget about [nearly] £300m that we have sold [players] for. So, yes, if we want to strengthen the squad we need to spend that much money.”
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Slot asserted that Liverpool “did great business,” emphasizing that all eight signings are aged 25 or under, and suggested the club “should get praise” for its adopted strategy.
“I think it is only a compliment that people tell everyone we have spent so much because that tells you the players we brought in are seen as very good players,” the Dutchman explained.
“Some other teams prefer to bring in 27-year-olds because they are ready, but we think we have brought in players who are 21, 22 [and] who are ready.
“I think all the money we have spent we generated ourselves by selling, and by winning the league after we didn’t buy anyone at all.”
Isak was absent from Liverpool’s 1-0 victory against Burnley on Sunday – his first match since joining the Reds – due to a lack of match fitness.
The 25-year-old trained individually at his former club, Newcastle, in an effort to expedite his transfer to Anfield, and requires additional training to reach peak condition after missing pre-season.
Isak’s sole appearance this season was for Sweden, featuring in an 18-minute cameo from the bench during a 2-0 defeat against Kosovo last week.
Slot affirmed he is “100% sure” Isak will not play the full 90 minutes against Atletico but indicated he will feature in some capacity against the La Liga team.
“He [Isak] is part of the squad, so it’s already a Champions League game to look forward to, but if people look forward to his playing time, that could mean that could happen tomorrow as well,” Slot added.
“So the moment he is fit, match fit, [he] can play 90, and then the next step is playing three times in a week 90 minutes.
“And that is what he has to do; scoring goals and doing special things in attack is something he will 100% do. The main challenge he has is to become so fit that he’s first of all ready to do what he did last season.”
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