Liverpool's Attack in Jeopardy After Ekitike Injury
Liverpool’s attacking rebuild has taken on a sharper edge, with Hugo Ekitike’s serious Achilles injury prompting a stark warning over the risks of banking on his full recovery.
The 24-year-old forward, signed as part of the club’s new era in attack, is not expected back in competitive action until at least Christmas after damaging his Achilles in April during the Champions League clash against former club Paris Saint-Germain. He is currently with the senior squad on their pre-season tour of the United States, working through rehabilitation while the rest of the group tunes up for the new campaign.
On paper, time is on his side. In reality, former France defender William Gallas believes Liverpool cannot afford to assume Ekitike will simply pick up where he left off.
A brutal injury truth
“I didn't have Hugo Ekitike’s injury, but I know it's very difficult to come back 100% after it,” Gallas told iPredicta. “Most of the players didn't make it.”
That line will chill any sporting director. Achilles injuries have ended or altered careers at the highest level, and Gallas didn’t sugar-coat the challenge ahead for a player still trying to properly establish himself at elite level.
“I know he's still young, but he will have to take his time. Liverpool may have to think twice too. They may have to bring a new player, because nobody knows if he's going to be back in his best,” he said.
The message is clear: Liverpool can hope for the best with Ekitike, but they must plan for something less.
Liverpool’s attacking puzzle
Liverpool are already in the market for a right-winger after Mohamed Salah’s departure, a search that was always going to define the club’s attacking identity for the next few years. That alone is a major recruitment task.
Now, Gallas argues, the Ekitike situation adds another layer. The Frenchman’s absence until at least mid-season strips depth from a frontline that has already lost its most reliable source of goals and availability.
“Listen, we know when we get big injuries, it’s very difficult to come back to your best shape,” Gallas said, before pointing to a cautionary tale from the Premier League.
“Look what happened to Wesley Fofana from Chelsea. Before, when he was at Leicester, he had a season that was just unbelievable. And then he got that bad injury. And from that bad injury, he never came back to his best performance. It could be the same for Ekitike.”
The comparison is pointed. Fofana, like Ekitike, was a young French talent tipped for the top. One serious setback, and the trajectory changed. Liverpool’s recruitment team will not ignore that warning as they weigh whether their current options can carry the load deep into the season.
Jacquet backed to step into Konate’s shoes
If Gallas sounded cautious on Ekitike, he struck a far more optimistic note about another of Liverpool’s French arrivals.
Jeremy Jacquet, the £60million signing from Rennes, has been tasked with replacing Ibrahima Konate at the heart of Liverpool’s defence. It is a sizeable job, but Gallas believes the 22-year-old has the tools to handle it.
“Jeremy Jacquet is a big boy,” he said. “He's a big boy and he's got quality. If you go to Liverpool, you know he has got quality. So now it's always the same question: you need to adapt and play alongside some of the best players.”
That adaptation will happen next to one of the game’s most commanding defenders.
“Virgil van Dijk can help him a lot. Yeah, he needs some time, but I think he can do the job of replacing Ibrahima Konate.”
Two Frenchmen, two very different starting points. Jacquet arrives fit, confident and expensive, expected to grow into a cornerstone of the back line. Ekitike, talented but sidelined, is fighting just to get back to where he was.
Liverpool’s hierarchy now face a familiar elite-club dilemma: trust the medical timelines and the player’s potential, or move decisively in the market to protect a season that will not wait for anyone’s recovery.
