Alexander Isak has no timeframe placed on his recovery after undergoing ankle surgery this week, but Arne Slot expects the Liverpool striker to play again this season.Isak broke his fibula and suffered extensive damage to his ankle during Saturday’s 2-1 win over Tottenham which forced him to undergo surgery on Monday.The operation was a success and the Swede will now recover and begin his rehabilitation work at the AXA Training Centre.Alexander Isak injury update: A quick look• Season not over: Arne Slot expects Alexander Isak to play again this season despite no official timeframe being set for his return.• Surgery success: The striker underwent a successful operation on Monday for a broken fibula and extensive ankle damage sustained against Spurs.• Long road ahead: While Slot initially mentioned a “couple of months,” a realistic recovery for this severity is typically three to five months.• Next man up: Hugo Ekitike will continue to lead the line, while the club tracks Bournemouth‘s Antoine Semenyo for January.Liverpool have announced there will be no timeframe when it comes to Isak’s return, but speaking in his pre-Wolves press conference on Tuesday, Slot expressed his confidence he will be back before the end of the season.“Yeah [I expect him to be back],” he told reporters. “It’s been a really challenging and difficult period for him I think.“You join a new club, usually when you joined a new club you want to show immediately all the qualities you have, but that was simply impossible.“Maybe no one understands, but if you haven’t trained for three or four months on a serious level with a team, and you are playing in this league, you need to be on top of your game to impact a game of football.PlayerClubInjury TypeYearDays MissedGames MissedLuke ShawMan UnitedDouble leg fracture2015305 Days51Jack WilshereArsenalHairline fibula fracture2015248 Days55IscoReal BetisBroken fibula (2 surgeries)2024230 Days40Harvey ElliottLiverpoolAnkle fracture-dislocation2021141 Days34Andre GomesEvertonAnkle fracture-dislocation2019112 Days17Filipe LuísAtletico MadridBroken fibula201849 Days13Alexander IsakLiverpoolBroken fibula & ankle surgery2025100-140*20+** Projected timeframe based on medical standard for fibula fractures and Slot’s update. (Source: Transfermarkt)“And that took, which we all knew, months before we could bring him there, because there was no pre-season.“There were games, games, games, games, games, hardly any time to train, so we always knew that it would take him time and that’s why it’s so unlucky that he’s now injured.“Because I think we all saw, with his goal against West Ham and this goal, that he got closer and closer to the player he was last season at Newcastle.”Earlier in his press conference, Slot claimed Isak would be absent for “a couple of months,” but it would be wrong to assume this as a specific timeframe for the striker’s return.Instead he is more likely to resume training towards the back end of the season, with a three-to-five month recovery realistic when it comes to injuries of this nature.That will ensure the onus stays on Hugo Ekitike to lead the line for Liverpool, with Federico Chiesa also available up front and youngster Jayden Danns returning in the coming weeks.Liverpool are interested in Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo ahead of the January transfer window but face competition from a number of other clubs including, as reported by The Athletic‘s David Ornstein on Tuesday, Chelsea.