Hugo Ekitike opened up about the issues he’s faced at Liverpool before missing out on their clash against Fulham
It’s been a contrasting debut campaign for Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz at Liverpool. The 23-year-old arrived in a £79million deal – the third biggest transfer the Reds clinched last summer – and has so far laid a claim to the title of being the Premier League’s best summer signing.
In the case of the German, who cost the reigning league champions a fee worth up to £116m, it’s been a less than ideal start to his career on Merseyside, having only captured his first goal for the club last month.
Amid their differing fortunes, the Frenchman detailed the problems he’s had since his arrival, while Wirtz’s carefree attitude was discussed by one of his team-mates. Mirror Football takes a look at the biggest stories regarding the Reds.
Hugo Ekitike issues
Arguably Liverpool’s best player this season, Ekitike has so far led the line admirably in his debut campaign with the Reds and has done so on his own in the last few weeks, given the broken leg Alexander Isak suffered last month.
With 11 goals to his name, Ekitike had started the last six games in all competitions before the Fulham match, and admitted his run up top due to the Swede’s injury is a tough situation for everybody involved.
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He told Liverpool’s official website: “Obviously that kind of thing happened, and I was very sorry for him because it’s not funny when you come to a new club and get injured with that kind of injury – it’s difficult.
“But for me, I try to do my job. The coach puts me on the pitch, and I’ll show him and show the fans that I can help the team. It doesn’t matter if I score, if I give assists, the most important [thing] for me is to win.”
However, the load has proven to be too much for the Frenchman to bear, who missed the Reds’ away clash to Fulham on Sunday after suffering a “minor hamstring injury”, according to Arne Slot.
The Reds boss admitted Ekitike has played more minutes than he should have because of Isak’s absence, as he explained before the match at Craven Cottage: “Alexander Isak has been out for a few weeks now, that has meant that Hugo had to play more minutes than he did throughout the whole season.
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“That has led to the fact that he picked up a slight hamstring injury because we had to play him more and more. For a player his age and not used to the Premier League completely, that’s a bit too much, and that’s why he will be out for today and hopefully be back for the Arsenal game, but [I’m] definitely not sure yet.”
Florian Wirtz promise
It hasn’t been an ideal start to life for Wirtz, who has yet to contribute the sort of numbers fans were expecting given his £116m price tag. His talent may be obvious, but it’s come in spurts instead of a consistent stream of good form.
However, his slow start at Liverpool hasn’t worried team-mate Jeremie Frimpong, who arrived alongside the German last summer from Bayer Leverkusen. The Dutch international has no doubt Wirtz will come good at Anfield and claimed the 22-year-old pays no attention to the mammoth price it took to prise him away from Germany.
“He is top,” Frimpong said of Wirtz. “I know how good of a player Flo is. Like I’ve said in plenty of interviews, if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have won the treble with Leverkusen. So we know how good he is and to see him doing it now… this is just the start. There’s plenty to come.
“Flo is the type of player that doesn’t care about these things, the price tag. He’s just happy to play football. For me personally, I think Flo takes pressure really well. He’s just a guy that just loves the ball on his feet.
“When he plays he’s just enjoying it. So for me, I don’t think he cares about all this. Of course, on the outside, what was it, £116m? I don’t think he cares about all that. He knows how good he is. He just wants to play.”
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