It’s fair to say that Hugo Ekitike has made a superb start to life at Liverpool following his summer transfer.
The Frenchman moved to Anfield from Eintracht Frankfurt for a £69m (up front) fee.
Since that point, he’s opened the scoring against both Crystal Palace (Community Shield) and Bournemouth in the Premier League.
Jamie Carragher lauds ‘brilliant’ Hugo Ekitike against Bournemouth
Jamie Carragher was one pundit impressed with Ekitike’s first competitive showing at Anfield on Friday night.
The former Liverpool centre-back hastened to add that the 23-year-old was, of course, far from being the finished product – certainly in comparison to reported transfer target Alexander Isak.
“For me, he’s made a brilliant start,” the pundit spoke on Sky Sports’ coverage.
“He’s not as good as [Alexander] Isak, of course he’s not – he’s four or five years younger than him.
“But I’m sure when Liverpool bought him they thought, ‘This fella can grow into one of the top strikers in world football’.”
"He's made a brilliant start!"
Jamie Carragher praises Hugo Ekitike after his player of the match performance in his Premier League debut 👏 pic.twitter.com/T8BbUpq9Y6
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 15, 2025
The former Bundesliga hitman was involved in two goals on the night, also supplying the assist for Cody Gakpo’s lead-doubling effort four minutes into the second half.
Should Ekitike be worried about Alexander Isak?
Any out-and-out striker with half a brain should be seriously worried about Alexander Isak.
The Swede is, objectively, one of the leading strikers in world football – arguably in the top three bracket across the globe.
That said, we just can’t envision a world where Liverpool would sign the Newcastle hitman without having a plan in place to protect Ekitike’s development and match minutes.
Cody Gakpo was statistically impressive for Liverpool
Sofascore handed Ekitike an 8/10 rating for his efforts against Andoni Iraola’s men at Anfield.
Whilst no doubt an impressive score, the French footballer was pipped to the title of the statistical leader on the pitch by Cody Gakpo (8.7/10) and Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo (8.7/10).
The Dutch international, admittedly, got an extra half an hour on the pitch and recorded some impressive stats:
→ 1 goal
→ 3 key passes
→ 21/29 passes completed (72%)
→ 1 big chance created
→ 2/7 dribbles completed successfully
→ 6/12 ground duels won
→ 6/11 aerial duels won
→ Possession lost 18 times
→ Fouled three times
We’re not so sure Hugo Ekitike was a million miles away from his fellow Liverpool forward. That said, there’s no question the pair excelled in a game very much defined by the offensive lines.
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Isak, top three in the WORLD…what are you smoking?
Yes Ekitike is a brilliant addition for Liverpool. And he’s still improving! I’m also sure Arne Slot will nurture his development. But with Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha waiting in the wings do we really need Isak? He’s good – yes – BUT will he have a negative impact on the team? Look how he’s treating Newcastle. And will he displace Ekitike or Gakpo? Or delay the two youngsters Nyoni and Ngumoha from getting 1st team experience? Surely we don’t want that. And at Newcastle’s asking price it’s just too expensive. Our main focus now must be on Marc Guehi.
Irrelevant how good the attacking players are if slot continues this kamikaze football with no thought of defending we won’t win anything. Against Bournemouth you won’t see worse defending even in the non league. 2-1 up and having 8 players in the Bournemouth box, Bournemouth counter with four players and we have two defenders. When asked about this he brushed it off. It’s poor coaching to be this open. We will get ripped apart if this isn’t sorted out.