Alexander Isak’s serious leg fracture has added fresh turmoil to Liverpool’s already unsettled season under Arne Slot, while forcing the club to rethink its priorities in the winter market and Mohamed Salah’s short‑term future.
Isak’s modest return of 3 goals in 16 games still represented a new attacking project and a safety valve in difficult matches, making his injury a double blow that arrives just as the club was planning mainly defensive reinforcements like Marc Guehi.
Now, with Isak sidelined for months, Cody Gakpo injured and Salah away at the Africa Cup of Nations, Liverpool must plug a numerical gap in attack rather than simply improve quality.
In this context, letting any attacker go in January becomes almost impossible, so Salah is effectively “not for sale,” even amid debates about his recent dip in dribbling and the noise around his mixed‑zone incident.
His AFCON trip could reset the atmosphere and allow him to return in refreshed form, but Slot will still demand that he earns his place on merit, not reputation. At the same time, Liverpool may accelerate the search for a versatile winger who can play on both flanks, shifting the internal hierarchy and serving as a step toward a post‑Salah era.
The club’s need to both repair the defence and reinforce the wings, possibly with a player like Antoine Semenyo, underlines how Isak’s injury has turned Salah’s situation into the heart of a complex set of difficult choices.
