Hugo Ekitike 'scared' former Liverpool striker and could now face new challenge

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Hugo Ekitike of Liverpool celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the Premier League match at Newcastle United on August 25 2025(Image: Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

It's usually difficult enough for any big-money striker signing to hit the ground running at Liverpool.

But the unique circumstances in which Hugo Ekitike has been trying to find his feet at Anfield have made his instant impact all the more impressive.

Ekitike became the first Liverpool player since Daniel Sturridge back in January 2013 to score in his opening three appearances for the club when thumping home the second goal of the dramatic 3-2 Premier League win at Newcastle United on Monday evening.

For some context, Fernando Torres scored only three times in his first eight games, while it took Darwin Nunez nine appearances to get to the same tally, Luis Suarez 10 and Andy Carroll 12.

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Ekitike has come into a Liverpool attack in a state of flux with Nunez and Luis Diaz having departed and Florian Wirtz seeking to establish himself as the chief provider, with the club also coming to terms with the tragic loss of Diogo Jota last month.

Then there is the fact the Reds remain interested in spending more than £100million on Alexander Isak, a player who ostensibly would be challenging for the number nine role in which Ekitike has thus far performed admirably.

That the Frenchman has yet to last 90 minutes, though, underlines why Liverpool need further reinforcements in the attack, Arne Slot keep to wrap his sole senior striker in cotton wool for as long as possible.

When the Reds committed to spending £79m on taking Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt last month, they did so while viewing the 23-year-old as a versatile option playing across the front three and potentially as a second striker.

All Ekitike can do now, of course, is further his burgeoning reputation.

While he can claim an assist for Cody Gakpo's goal against Bournemouth, a pass completion rate of just 57% in his two Premier League outings underlines one obvious area for improvement, while he actually only touched the ball eight times in the opposing area in those matches.

But these are very early days in an evolving Liverpool team.

And one player who knows all about the pressure of being a big-money forward arrival at Anfield is fellow Frenchman Djibril Cisse, who was a club record signing when taken from Auxerre for £14.5m 21 years ago.

"As a French guy, and a fellow striker, I'm really excited to see more of Hugo Ekitike this season, and I wish him the best at Liverpool," Cisse exclusively told Ladbrokes.

"To be honest, I was scared when he first came to the club that he wouldn't get a lot of minutes, so I'm really happy and quite reassured with the amount of playing time he's had already, and the fact he's already scoring goals for the club.

"He’s a good player, so I want him to play as much as possible and to show that he deserves to be here.

When you consider this is his first season in England, I think a really good season for him would be scoring anywhere between 10 and 15 goals.

"He's arrived at a big club with big expectations, so if he manages somewhere around that total, that would be a good start in his first year - even though I know he can do more."

However, Ekitike's strong start to the campaign wasn't enough to force his way into the France squad forth their forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine and Iceland.

And explaining the striker's absence, France national team boss Didier Deschamps said: “Hugo, what he did last season and now at Liverpool...

He has the potential to play for the France national team."

The lack of international commitments will give Ekitike more time to acclimatise to his new surrounds after the visit of Arsenal on Sunday.

And it could give him a further head start should he soon acquire new competition for the main striker role at Liverpool.