Arne Slot gave a guarded assessment after Alexander Isak was forced from the pitch following his goal in Liverpool’s win over Tottenham Hotspur. The 26-year-old summer recruit converted a first-time finish after Florian Wirtz slid a perfectly weighted pass into Isak’s stride, but his celebration never began. Spurs centre back Micky van de Ven’s challenge missed the ball and caught Isak, whose left knee appeared to twist awkwardly while his studs were caught in the turf.

Isak was left writhing on the turf and, after lengthy medical attention, had to be helped off with an arm draped across two physios. Slot declined to offer a firm medical update straight after the match. “We’ll have to wait and see,” he warned. “It is too short after the game to speak about it but it is never good when a player has to come off.”

“I don’t have any news on him,” the Liverpool boss reiterated in his postmatch press conference, “but if a player scores, then gets injured and then doesn’t come back on the pitch and doesn’t try to come back … that’s usually not a good thing.

“But I cannot say anything more than that, that is just [a] gut feeling. Nothing medical to say about it.” Slot had not yet spoken to Isak by the time of his media duties but worked to emphasise positives from the brief cameo.

Slot noted the link between the club’s two most expensive signings of all time. “It’s a good thing that he scored: a good goal, assisted by Florian Wirtz,” he said. “I said last week already players are getting better and the team is getting better. Again, it wasn’t perfect today, especially not in the last 10 minutes, but in the meantime we pick up points and I see the team developing in a way I like to see.”

The strike was Isak’s second Premier League goal for Liverpool and his first at Anfield remains pending. It was also the first assist Wirtz had created for a teammate in England’s top flight. Wirtz’s pass for Isak was recorded as his 27th Premier League chance created this season; the previous 26 had not resulted in goals.

Forbes’ 2025 valuations underline a simple truth: global sports wealth remains concentrated outside soccer even as the game retains massive global support. Forbes estimates that 20 soccer clubs worldwide carry a value of at least $1 billion, yet when measured against the richest franchises across all sports, soccer clubs are part of the crowd rather than the clear leaders.

Forbes again places the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys top of the list at $13 billion, a figure that represents 29% growth from 2024. The Golden State Warriors ($11 billion), LA Rams ($10.5 billion), New York Giants ($10.1 billion) and LA Lakers ($10 billion) complete the five teams that reach 11-figure valuations in 2025.

Forbes calculates a team’s value as its “enterprise value (equity plus net debt) and include the economics of each team’s stadium but not the value of the stadium real estate itself.” That approach produces a list where the first soccer club appears at 20th overall: Real Madrid is valued at $6.75 billion. That remains an enormous valuation, even if it sits well below the very top of the overall rankings.

Manchester United, despite consistently documented on-field problems and substantial debt, stands at $6.6 billion and is tied for 24th place overall. Barcelona follows at $5.65 billion and 42nd overall. Liverpool creeps inside the global top 50, tied at 48th place with two North American franchises, and is valued at $5.4 billion.

Those four clubs are the only soccer representatives among the 50 most valuable sports teams in the world in 2025. The figures underline how the biggest soccer clubs operate on a huge commercial scale but also how other sports, notably the NFL and elite NBA franchises, continue to lead the global valuation table.

Alexander Isak has acknowledged he does not know why his form at Liverpool has dipped but said he expects the situation to be temporary. The striker, who joined the club in a British record £125 million deal, admitted uncertainty about his struggles while remaining measured about the future.

“I don’t really have the answer to that,” he told Swedish publication Sportbladet. “The team thing—it’s clear that it’s been slow, but that’s how it is in football. There are always teams that are flying, and then it’s slower for others. It’s about turning that around.

“For me too … it’s not the first time in my career that I’ve gone through a period like this, or been in bad shape. That’s how a football career works, it’s just something you have to fight your way out of.”

Isak began the season low on fitness after his attempts to leave Newcastle involved effectively going on strike and refusing to train with his Magpies teammates during the summer. He has scored once in 14 appearances for Liverpool and has been replaced by Hugo Ekitiké on the bench in the last two games. The Reds have won only three league games played in.

Isak pointed to past setbacks in his career as context for his confidence. After a breakout at AIK at 17 and a move to Borussia Dortmund in January 2017 as the most expensive Allsvenskan player at the time, he failed to establish himself there. He went on loan to Willem II and later moved to Real Sociedad, where he rebuilt his reputation. Newcastle signed him for a club-record £63 million in 2022 following his revival in Spain.

“Absolutely [I’m confident],” he said. “That comes with experience. Never too high, never too low. Trying to find that balance, that’s what I feel I’ve gotten better at.”

The arrival of Isak formed part of a wider summer outlay by Liverpool, a transfer commitment reported to total around £450 million, intended to prepare for a post-Klopp era and a future without players who powered previous success. The 2025–26 season has included public debate over established figures; Mohamed Salah was benched by Arne Slot in November and criticised the decision after three games out of the team. Reports have also suggested doubts in some quarters about the summer recruitment, with specific concerns mentioned about Isak and Florian Wirtz.