Hugo Ekitike has become a Red after his €95million from German side Eintracht Frankfurt. The 23 year old French striker as confirmed by Softfootball signed a 6 year deal with the current Premier League champions.
He is familiarizing himself with his new teammates after he joined up with the Liverpool preseason squad in Hong Kong where they are preparing to play AC Milan. The Reds posted a video of Hugo being welcomed by fellow Frenchman, Ibrahima Konate as Liverpool trained today.
The Reds posted the video on their verified X handle as seen below:
While Ekitike gets his welcomes at Liverpool, Softfootball dug deep into him and found 6 things you, Liverpool fans and football fans might not know or remember about about.
So here are 6 things we found about Ekitike.
Ekitike’s nationality
Ekitike is born to a Cameroonian father. His heritage means he is eligible to play for either France or Cameroon at international level, and he opted for Les Bleus at youth level.
To date, he has made 11 appearances for his country’s U20 and U21 outfits, with five games for the latter group seeing him score five times.
Ekitike’s shooting range
Nobody tried their luck with a strike at goal more often than Ekitike in Germany’s top flight last term. He set his aim 115 times, with only Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane also in triple figures (110) across the league.
With his numbers across board, he was also named in the Bundesliga tam of the season last term, as he helped Frankfurt finish 3rd position and qualify for the UEFA Champions League with automatic spot.
Ekitike’s trophy cabinet
Ekitike claimed a league winner’s medal in the French top flight in 2022-23. His debut season with PSG after joining from Reims ended in championship success as he featured 25 times alongside the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar.
Just out of his teens at the point of joining PSG, he chipped in with three goals and four assists for the cause as they pipped Lens to the title by a single point.
Ekitike’s 4th football home
Hugo is only 23 but this move to Liverpool is the fourth new environment of his football career.
The Frenchman’s development in his own country included a loan spell out at Vejle Boldklub in Denmark, before Frankfurt became his third different experience in January 2024, initially on loan again.
Liverpool now welcomes him as another fresh chapter in his life.
Ekitike’s palindromic name
When he pulls on the Liverpool shirt soon, Ekitike will join a small band of players with a particular curiosity – those whose surnames are spelled the same backwards as forwards.
For the Reds, there was previously Andrew and David Hannah, who each represented the club in the late 1800s, the former being its first ever captain. In more recent times, Sheyi Ojo and Ozan Kabak have also been palindromic players at LFC.
The new striker will wear a temporary number, 54 for the preseason tour in Asia as the Reds face AC Milan in Hong Kong then later travel to Japan, where they will meet Yokohama F. Marinos before returning to Merseyside.
