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It is fair to say that the Liverpool fans were left rather impressed with Hugo Ekitike’s debut on home soil.

The Reds concluded their pre-season with a 3-2 win against Athletic Bilbao, with some of the performances being nothing short of sensational.

The attack in particular is where Liverpool looked the most impressive, with their front four something opposing teams will be wary of next season.

New signing Hugo Ekitike, arguably, stood out the most, with the Frenchman enjoying a really good start to life at Anfield, and he certainly showed why he was signed in the first place.

In fact, there was one thing especially about his game that showed to fans why he will be worth the money, and what he did suggests Arne Slot has plenty of options at his disposal.



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As expected, Ekitike started through the middle for the Reds, with Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah either side of him, and Florian Wirtz behind, of course.

However, many of them were interchangeable and swap positions quite regularly, with Ekitike in particular drifting out to the left on multiple occasions.

The 23-year-old even set up Liverpool’s first goal by doing just that, with the striker dribbling down the left before cutting the ball back for Mohamed Salah, who of course did the rest.

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He certainly proved that he is much more than a striker and has shown that he has the ability to link up play but also run with the ball at speed, a combination that the Reds have lacked for quite some time.

His long legs mean that he almost glides across the pitch effortlessly and covers a lot of ground in a short space of time, giving Slot another option at left wing if he needs it.

The lineup the Dutchman selected appeared to be the strongest he had available to him as well, indicating that Ekitike is very much here to hit the ground running and could have a big future at Anfield.

The Reds played two games against Bilbao in one evening, with both giving everyone the chance to get some valuable minutes and prove why they should be in the team next season.

And, in the first game, Rio Ngumoha shone with a goal and assist, while Ekitike also showed serious promise in the second match, suggesting a replacement for Diaz is not required.

Gakpo is expected to play out on the left for large parts of the season, but the other two have shown they can fill in when needed and get valuable minutes.

Of course, Ekitike will probably be hoping to play through the middle, but if they do end up signing Alexander Isak, at least fans know he can play elsewhere too.