Liverpool get two-player solution to Alexander Isak woe as Antoine Semenyo agreement reached

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The ECHO's Liverpool writers assess what the club should do now with £125m Alexander Isak set to be sidelined for some timeLiverpool are facing up to the prospect of having Alexander Isak sidelined for a considerable amount of time, with the £125m striker having suffered a broken leg in the 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur. The Sweden international pulled up after being caught by a scrambling Micky van de Ven when he opened the scoring in Saturday's victory in North London and was immediately withdrawn for Jeremie Frimpong, just 11 minutes after coming on as a substitute himself.Having invested so much money and time in getting Isak from Newcastle and then getting him up to speed after a lack of a pre-season programme, the injury setback comes as a major blow for the Reds in their efforts to climb up the Premier League after a difficult period where they lost nine in 12 across all competitions between late September and November.So what now at Liverpool?

Here, our ECHO writers assess the situation and how best to counteract not having a gifted marksman like Isak available for some time.READ MORE: Liverpool's next steps as Alexander Isak faces lengthy spell on sidelines with leg injuryPaul GorstHaving handed over a king's ransom to sign Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike and then Isak in the summer months, it doesn't really feel like a Liverpool thing to do to simply spend more money. So often, the idea of forking out tens of millions on new players is viewed by many fans as the antidote to cure all ills.But having forked out £445m only to essentially regress this season, Arne Slot's Reds are proof that simply buying players for lots of money does not solve problems.

The Reds do not operate like a club like Chelsea and transfers are, in an ideal world, long-term and strategic plans.Having said that, the options are few and far between in the Liverpool squad now and overburdening Ekitike is a real risk at a time when a below-par Cody Gakpo is sidelined with an injury and an underwhelming Mohamed Salah is with Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations.Surgery via the transfer market appears the best solution, particularly given there is a decent shout to suggest the Reds were short in wide areas before Isak was injured anyway.With eight Premier League goals this term, only Erling Haaland and Igor Thiago have outsocred Antoine Semenyo, who is level with Ekitike and the Ghana international added to his tally at the weekend with a well-taken strike against Burnley.Capable of operating on both flanks, Semenyo would be a serious addition of quality at an ideal time for the Reds. Long-term, Slot is clearly looking to move away from an era dominated by Salah, who, at 33, is approaching the twilight of his career.Supporters will have to get used to their front players looking more human in future than Salah, who is only outscored by Roger Hunt and Ian Rush in the all-time scoring charts at Anfield, but Semenyo would be a good option at £65m to add a new dimension to the frontline, particularly while Isak recovers.Mark JonesLiverpool already needed to add another attacking player to the ranks this January because they had left themselves a little short in the summer, and now the Alexander Isak injury has made that need an even greater one.Antoine Semenyo ticks all the boxes in that he is Premier League proven, able to play across the front line and, crucially, available, and so stumping up the £65m required to prise him from Bournemouth seems like the right thing to do now.In addition, the recall of Harvey Elliott from his Aston Villa misery would add a bit more cover on the right of the attack, where he could dovetail with Federico Chiesa in the short-term with Mohamed Salah away at the Africa Cup of Nations.When Salah returns - and all talk of a January transfer now obviously has to be ignored - then he could find himself in a strike partnership with Hugo Ekitike, something that has a lot of potential to work and indeed could help kickstart Salah's stuttering form.Is it perfect?