Alexander Isak behaviour in Liverpool training speaks volumes after £125m transfer

Alexander Isak's conduct in the build up to his £125m Liverpool transfer was divisive, to say the least

Alexander Isak's immediate behaviour following his £125m move from Newcastle United to Liverpool speaks volumes. The 25-year-old had been the central piece of the summer's most dramatic transfer saga, which concluded late on deadline day.

The Reds shelled out a British-record £125million for Isak, but hope this will be money well spent if the striker is able to match his goal-scoring rate for his former club. Isak registered 62 goals in 109 appearances in all competitions for Newcastle, but he was most deadly in the Premier League with one goal averaged every 1.5 matches.

Isak has scored four times against Liverpool in that period, including what turned out to be the winning strike in last season's Carabao Cup final at Wembley Stadium.

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Making such a contribution to Newcastle's first major trophy success in 56 years was enough to earn him instant hero status on Tyneside - though this looks to have been stripped away following weeks spent over the summer trying to force a transfer to Liverpool.

It began with Isak not travelling on his former club's pre-season tour of the Far East due to injury, only to venture to Spain on his own and train at the facilities of Real Socieded. He eventually reconvened with Eddie Howe but reportedly refused to play for the Magpies again and was made to train alone.

When little progress was being made on his exit in mid-August, the player took it upon himself to pen a social media statement accusing Newcastle of 'broken promises', demanding a move was of best interests for all involved without actually submitting a formal transfer request. It left a sour taste on Tyneside by the time it came to deadline day.

But with that now in the past, Isak is straight down to work for his new club.

Arne Slot's new signing had been with the Swedish national team over the break in club football immediately after completing his transfer. He played his first minutes of football in over three months as a second-half substitute, over 1300km away from Liverpool in Pristina, as his country lost 2-0 to Kosovo in FIFA World Cup qualifying.

Less than 48 hours later, Isak was the only Reds star to have featured over the international break to report for the club's first training session building up to this weekend's fixture against Burnley at Turf Moor.

Footage from Wednesday showed Isak settling into his new surroundings, meeting his new colleagues, and displaying the finishing prowess that tempted Liverpool into break the bank for his services. There will be seven matches in a 21-day period for the new recruit to continue to make a good first impression.

This contrast in conduct between his final weeks at Newcastle and now also means Isak is quickly proving pundits wrong.

Former Manchester United and England forward Wayne Rooney is one of those, as last month he warned: "Also. for the team whose trying to sign him, obviously it looks like Liverpool whose trying to sign him, you have to wonder if that's the sort of player you want? [A player] who is going to desert his teammates, who's going to walk away from a huge football club."

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