Hugo Ekitike will be the 18th French player in Liverpool. Talking about the French player at Anfield, mostly faded and failed even though Ibrahima Konate is playing quite well here.
Especially in the attack alone, the structures to Liverpool no one imprinted if not disaster, from David N'GOG, Djibril Cisse, Florent Sinama-Pongolle, Anthony Le Tallec to Nicolas Anelka, Bernard Diomede. Need to know, Ekitike is the first strike to Liverpool after 17 years from David N'GOG.
So, the pressure for Ekitike is definitely great. The 23 -year -old striker will have to escape the fierce competition in the attack to assert himself and be welcomed by Anfield audience. But, this is not the first time Ekitike faces challenges.
Three years after being a team of superstars like Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe at PSG, Ekitike joined the Liverpool dressing room, where there was no shortage of stars, nor the ego, and many other reasons. Although not like the boy Reims just came to the large football world 3 years ago, he still had to express himself in front of the defending champion of England, where the background was not as important as the spirit, the transfer cost was not as important as the love for the shirt in the matches.
Ekitike joined a squad without missing the top strikers. But the Merseyside red team decided to invest heavily in the Frankfurt striker because they did not own a player with a unique profile like the former PSG player.
Darwin Nunez, whom Liverpool invested nearly 100 million euros (including bonuses) in the summer of 2022, is definitely the most similar to Ekitike in the current squad: The height is quite similar (Nunez is 1.87 m high; Ekitike is 1.91m high), strong, quite technical, capable of playing deep and turning back to the opponent. Although Nunez scored against the Preston North End grid in the first friendly match of the summer (January 3, July 12), the former Benfica player did not convince coach Arne Slot last season.
Nunez only played 8 times in the Premier League, not participating in 2 matches against PSG in the 1/8 round of the Champions League), and often the third choice of Slot, after the deceased Diogo Jota or Cody Gakpo. Is Ekitike's appearance a way to push Nunez (26 years old, and a contract until 2028) is gone faster?
Absolutely possible. But even when the Uruguayan player left the club, the competition would be very fierce for Ekitike. Florian Wirtz joined Liverpool with a record transfer fee (about 135 million euros). If Luis Diaz (28 years old, and a contract until 2027) left, it is likely that he will be replaced by Rodrygo (24 years old, while contracts until 2028 at Real Madrid), while Gakpo, Mohamed Salah and Federico Chiesa are still there.
However, Ekitike is still selected by slot. Because the Dutch leader was extremely impressed with what he did with Frankfurt in the 2024/25 season and realized that Ekitike was the striker that Liverpool needs. The former Reims player scored 22 goals and had 12 assists after 48 matches in all competitions.
Above all, he scored against most major teams in Germany: Bayern, 3-3, October 6; Dortmund, 2-0, January 17; Leverkusen, 1-4, March 1; Leipzig, 4-0, April 26), and especially in the Europa League, before Ajax and Tottenham. In a season of a half competition in the Bundesliga, Ekitike has risen to a new level, but he will have to confirm that in the Premier League, where it is no longer a boring or physical tournament as before.
In the Frankfurt shirt last season, Ekitike was one of the players who create the most opportunities in the top five tournaments in Europe, with a total of expected goals (XG) up to 21.58. However, he is also the player with the lowest ratio of XG and the number of goals scored (15 in the Bundesliga), a statistical statistics that makes The Kop fans pay attention.
In the Podcast “The Rest is Football”, former England defender Micah Richards recently expressed his agreement with NHM on this issue, and tried to reassure them. He recounted one of the conversations with Thierry Henry, former French U21 coach and once led Ekitike.
“Henry told me that Ekitike was not an explosive player, but could make a strong impression, with incredible durability in a top striker. Ekitike is significantly improving definitive skills. He added that if Ekitike continues this path, his potential may be very, very large,” Richards shared.
Slot is also sure this. The Dutch military leader understood that his rookie still needs to improve his ability to finish, but he appreciated the team spirit, the quality of coordination and ability to read the situation of Ekitike. He knows when to go deep, when to move down, create space for teammates, or when to make a decision to receive the ball. Ekitike's airfield is also another plus point, it is very useful for a team that has only scored 12 goals in the beginning of the 2024/25 season, but nearly half of them come from Virgil Van Dijk.
Moreover, Liverpool also considered this 23 -year -old rookie a long -term investment. However, Ekitike, the eighteenth French player signed a contract with Liverpool, will also have to make every effort to integrate into a club that his compatriots rarely succeed. In addition to Djibril Cisse and Ibrahima Konate, both are the Champions League champions in this shirt, the historical rope between the Red Devils and the French players are often interrupted.
Hopefully Ekitike will prove that it is not coincidentally being in Europe (after PSG). You must dispel all doubts. Because rarely there are trains up to three times.
