Not only the striker, the French rookie, Liverpool's Hugo Ekitike can also kick and backwards deeply. As a result, Arne Slot has many flexible layout plans next season.
With a fee of 95 million euros, Ekitike became Liverpool's fifth rookie this summer, after Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong and goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili. Ekitike personally had an impressive season at Frankfurt last season, scored 22 goals and had 12 assists in all competitions.
The 23 -year -old joined Liverpool in the context that they were in need of a spearhead in the attack to protect the Premier League as well as towards more success on the Champions League front. Now, how will Slot use Ekitike?
Ekitike stone
With Mohammed Salah scoring 29 goals in the Premier League, Liverpool won the tournament without a real striker last season. Salah's numbers were amazing and it gave him the top scorer award.
The problem is that Salah is older and cannot expect the Egyptian star to continue to score that goal next season. Therefore, Slot must be calculated. He understands now if Liverpool must have a change and the burden of scoring must be shared.
Therefore, Slot recruited a striker that he could trust and with Ekitike, the Dutch tactician owned a striker capable of scoring congenital goals and ready to bring the opportunity to succeed his teammates. Ekitike can be independent of war and the striker seems to be “lazy” that possesses impressive breakthrough, it makes him an ideal choice for Liverpool's deep backward gameplay.
Last season, Liverpool led the top 5 European National Championships in terms of the number of shots from the counterattack (66) and scored 14 goals from these situations, very similar to Frankfurt, the leader of the Bundesliga on the counterattack effect (53 shots, 12 goals). Ekitike, with 44 shots after the ball phase, ranked fourth in Europe, will integrate well into this system.
Liverpool squad (4-2-3-1): Alisson; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo; Ekitike
Ekitike kicked in the diagram of 2 strikers
Ekitike is a modern striker model. He was not tied to a fixed position. The flexibility and sensitivity allows him to move around other players and create opportunities for satellites to promote their ability.
That's what Liverpool needs at Ekitike to continue to promote because in the next season, their opponents will certainly limit, even strangled the space. Therefore, Slot will rely on Ekitike not only to score but also need him to be “bait”, dragging the defenders from the inherent position, thereby allowing players like Salah and Wirtz to be exploited into that area.
Gody Gakpo and Wirtz can both play next to Ekitike. Gakpo plays as a real striker, and Ekitike backwards, while Wirtz will act as a virtual number of 9, attacked into the gap created by Ekitike.
According to statistics, Ekitike scored 15 goals and had 8 assists in 31 Bundesliga matches in 2024/25, ranked fifth in the number of contributions to the goal in the previous season. He is also one of the leading strikers in the Bundesliga in keeping the ball, running in the gap and breakthrough behind the defense.
Liverpool squad (4-2-2-2): Alisson; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Gakpo, Wirtz, Ekitike
Ekitike plays left wing
Slot bought Ekitike not to “push” him left wing because he wanted him to promote the best in the role of a key striker. However, with a dense schedule and Liverpool wants to compete fiercely on all four fronts, Ekitike can play on the left wing will be a “fire fighting” option for Liverpool when slot needs to change.
The French U21 player only played a few matches in the left wing, but his speed and bodybuilding made it difficult for Ekitike to deal with one -one -one situations. And yet, in Frankfurt, he is in the top 7 Bundesliga in terms of the number of pressure on the half -enemy yard and high intensity pressure in the last 1/3 of the yard (15.3 times every 90 minutes), surpassing all teammates.
At the present time, the flexibility in position is an increasingly important element of modern football, and Ekitike – a versatile player, not afraid to move wide to connect the game or turn behind the opponent's defense will be a “special weapon” for Slot.
Ekitike's creativity is also a strong point. He created 44 opportunities from the live ball, ranked 7th in the Bundesliga, and there were 0.29 far away (creating expectations) every 90 minutes, the number enough to reach the top 10 Premier League last season. Liverpool, with quality midfield and abundant ball ability, can help Ekitike improve performance, turning him into a formidable point.
Liverpool squad (4-2-3-1): Alisson; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Wirtz, Ekitike; Gakpo
