Club CEO confirms further Alexander Isak payment

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Liverpool secured the signature of Sweden striker Alexander Isak from Newcastle United in a British-record £125 million deal on deadline day.

However, Sweden head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson has cautioned that Isak is “way short of match fitness” following his protracted transfer saga and limited preseason involvement.

Isak underwent a medical and agreed personal terms on transfer deadline day before jetting to Stockholm to join up with the national squad.

He did not feature in Newcastle’s pre-season or opening three games of the season, leaving him with no competitive minutes since May.

Tomasson warned: “Can he play 90 minutes.

He has the potential to change the game, but we must manage his workload carefully”.

Despite fitness doubts, Isak could still see his first competitive action of the season on international duty.

Sweden face Slovenia at the Friends Arena in Solna on September 5, before travelling to Pristina to take on Kosovo on September 8 in World Cup qualifying fixtures.

Both matches represent a crucial opportunity for Isak to build sharpness ahead of a demanding Liverpool schedule.

And ahead of the Swedish fixtures, it has emerged that several of Isak’s former sides are entitled to solidarity payments – including his academy side AIK Stockholm.

Solidarity payments in are monetary compensations paid to clubs that have contributed to a player’s training and development between the ages of 12 and 23.

These payments are triggered when a player is transferred between clubs of different associations while still under contract, and a percentage of the transfer fee (up to 5% as per FIFA regulations) is set aside for distribution among those formative clubs.

And while AIK Stockholm chief executive Fredrik Soderberg has played down the compensation – his side is still in line to net approximately £2.6 million, a significant sum considering AIK recently reported losses of around £3.1 million for the January to June period this year.

“What it means for AIK is that we have a guy from our own youth football who has just broken the all-time transfer record and represents one of the world’s biggest clubs,” Soderberg said to Sportbladet.

“That is the most important payment for AIK tonight

The fact that we also receive solidarity compensation for the transfer is secondary in this context.”

Other clubs that will receive a piece of the pie are Willem II in the Netherlands, Borussia Dortmund in Germany, and Real Sociedad in Spain.

Liverpool, as the buying club, makes this payment in addition to the agreed transfer fee to Newcastle United.

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