Hugo Ekitike’s injury is ‘bad’, claims Liverpool team-mate Ibrahima Konate – as Arne Slot laments ‘especially hard’ blow to key player, with World Cup dream in doubt
Hugo Ekitike’s World Cup dream is in doubt after he was taken off on a stretcher during Liverpool‘s Champions League defeat by Paris Saint-Germain.
The 23-year-old striker – signed for £69million from Frankfurt last summer – suffered what appeared to be a nasty injury in the first half of the 2-0 defeat at Anfield that condemned Arne Slot‘s side to a 4-0 aggregate defeat.
And team-mate Ibrahima Konate said after the game: ‘I am very sad for him, and I hope he will come back. I think it’s bad. I don’t know. I heard many things. With the World Cup, all the things coming this summer, it’s very hard for him at this moment – and I send him my prayers.’
Ekitike will be sent for further scans in the next 48 hours and Slot hinted that he may not play again this season, saying: ‘Hugo, we all saw on the video and clips, that doesn’t look good. For 88 minutes until tonight we have played with Florian (Wirtz), Alex (Isak) and Hugo together.
‘We added about 27 to that tonight and I would be surprised if we add more minutes to that this season. The good thing is Alex is back.’
Ekitike won his first cap for France last September and was expected to be part of the squad for this summer’s World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico. That now appears in doubt.
Hugo Ekitike went down with what appears to be a serious injury against PSG
The English champions had chances and a penalty overturned at Anfield but the damage was done in the first leg in Paris. Ousmane Dembele scored a brace against the run of play in the second half to put the tie beyond reach.
But Slot insists the future looks bright for Liverpool despite crashing out.
Slot said: ‘Of course we are very disappointed because I think there were parts of the second half where you could feel, “If we could just score now, this could become a very special night”.
‘But the future looks very bright for this team, for this club. We have shown we can compete with the champions of Europe in our stadium. To be the dominant team, not many teams can be dominant against PSG and create as many chances as we did.’
Liverpool had a second-half spot-kick overturned by VAR at 0-0 when Alexis Mac Allister was felled in the penalty area, much to the dismay of Slot.
‘I think probably last week we had too much luck and we ran out of luck today,’ said the boss, referring to Ibrahima Konate being lucky to escape punishment for a push in Paris.
‘We have conceded a few penalties this season and I could name them all for you, but if a pen is given, usually VAR tells you I see contact then I should support the on-field decision. I wasn’t surprised that this went against us but that wasn’t the story of the game.’
Arne Slot says Liverpool must wait to see the extent of Hugo Ekitike’s injury after the forward was stretchered off against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night.
The France international was forced to depart during the first half of the Champions League quarter-final second leg at Anfield.
Speaking post-match about the injury, Slot told Amazon Prime Video: “Not too good. I think we could all see that it didn’t look well and didn’t look good. Let’s wait and see what it will be. But we could all see it didn’t look good.
“In the second half he went home so I haven’t seen him yet. Losing a game is already very hard, especially in the way we lost it, but again – as it seems to be – losing a player is something we’ve had so many times this season.
“It’s especially very hard for him because you never want to be injured, especially not at this moment of time in the season.”
Arne Slot has provided an update on Hugo Ekitike‘s injury, saying “it didn’t look good” and that the player “went home” in the second half.
In the driving rain at Anfield, Ekitike started on the right wing against Paris Saint-Germain, but his night ended early as he suffered an apparent Achilles injury after half an hour.
Following the game, Slot told Prime Video that Ekitike is “not too good” and he “didn’t look well and didn’t look good.”
The head coach was asked if his injury was indeed an Achilles problem, to which he responded: “Let’s wait and see what it will be, but we could all see it didn’t look good.
“In the second half he went home so I haven’t seen him yet.
“Losing a game is already hard, especially in the way we lost it, but then again as it seems to be losing a player is something we’ve had so many times this season.
“But it’s especially very hard for him, because you never want to be injured, especially not at this moment of time in the season.”
In his post-match press conference Slot alluded to his concerns of a season-ending issue, telling reporters: “I think we all saw in the clips it doesn’t look good.
“Eighty-eight minutes before tonight we could play with Florian, Alex and Hugo; we added 27, 28 to that tonight and I would be surprised if we could add a few more minutes to that this season.
“But the good thing is Alex is back.”
Ibrahima Konate thinks Hugo Ekitike injury “is bad”
Ekitike’s teammate for both France and Liverpool, Ibrahima Konate, wasn’t optimistic about the youngster’s injury.
“I am very sad for him and I hope he will come back. To be fair, I think it’s bad,” Konate told Prime Video.
“I don’t know. I heard many things, but I don’t want to talk about that because with the World Cup, all of the things coming this summer, it’s very, very hard for him at this moment and I send him my prayers and everything.”
Wednesday night was just Ekitike’s third time starting alongside fellow striker Alexander Isak, and the partnership looks like it will have to wait until next season to flourish.
Ekitike’s injury immediately left even the opposition players concerned, as PSG captain Marquinhos helped keep his leg comfortable while waiting for the club doctors to arrive on the pitch.
With the 23-year-old departing on a stretcher, one of his relations was seen in tears as they headed down into the Main Stand.
The severity of his injury is still not known exactly. Worryingly, some Achilles injuries have a return-to-play timeframe of seven to nine months, so Ekitike’s place at this summer’s World Cup could now be in doubt, with France’s first match against Senegal just two months away.
The attacker was on course to play more minutes than in any other campaign of his young career; since signing for Liverpool he has played 2,870 minutes.
Last season, he racked up 3,644 minutes for Eintracht Frankfurt, but before that, the most he had ever played was 1,463.
With Ekitike absent, Isak will likely start against Everton at the weekend but, like against PSG, won’t be able to play much more than a half.
Cody Gakpo could also be an option, having been Isak’s replacement through the middle at Anfield.
