Alexander Isak will 'always' be affected by his injury - shattering Liverpool verdict
Liverpool striker Alexander Isak will likely always be affected by the injury that saw him spend three months on the side line last season.
That is according to experienced former Tottenham, Everton and Aston Villa scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
The striker has returned to Liverpool after picking up an injury on international duty, which has been described as a "small problem with his thigh".
Isak suffered a broken fibula in December after a late challenge by Micky van de Ven, which came as he scored against Tottenham.
He enjoyed a positive World Cup upon his return, and has began this season in terrific form for Liverpool, scoring four goals in five Premier League games so far.
The 27-year-old added another for Sweden against Romania last week, but will now face a race to be fit for the visit of Manchester City next week.
Alexander Isak will always have 'doubt'
Isak has suffered countless injury problems throughout his career, including issues with his hamstring, ankle, groin, knee and thigh.
But never anything quite as significant as the injury he suffered last season - that has undoubtedly left an impact on the Swede.
"When you've been out with the injury he's been out with, it's always a worry," King told Football Insider. "It's a worry, as I've been saying before with [Dejan] Kulusevski and [Rodrigo] Bentancur.
"These kind of injuries, today it's great that players can recover from them. But I look at that injury and I think back to my own - you've always got a little bit of a weakness in there.
"No matter how it's been rebuilt or how it's been repaired, there's still a little bit of doubt over something that could aggravate it again.
"It's: 'Do I accelerate? Do I pull up quickly? Do I tackle? Do I change direction with my runs?' All these things are going to come into a player's head at some stage, and the thing with Isak is that his main asset was his pace. That's what he's got to get back."
Graham Potter's full Isak update
When Liverpool fans saw that Isak had been injured, they would have been fearing the worst.
It is hoped that the Swede can get back to his best this season and justify the record-breaking £125million spent to sign him last summer, but a big injury would have seriously scuppered his start.
"He's got a small problem with his thigh. It's not a big one but because of the amount of games we've got in a small space of time, he won't be able to make those," Sweden coach Graham Potter confirmed.
"Not a big one, but frustrating for him, and obviously for us."