Hugo Ekitike will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season, he will miss the World Cup and the chance to represent France in a season where he has both taken a step up at the club level and made the breakthrough to establish himself as a regular internationally.
In all likelihood, he will not play again in 2026. And even that’s in a best case scenario.
That’s the reality after Liverpool today confirmed that the 23-year-old striker had as suspected suffered a ruptured achilles, with the club going as far
as acknowledging it is a “serious” rupture in their confirmation of the injury today.
There is no way to put a positive spin on the news, with the injury widely considered to be even more serious and potentially career-threatening than a torn anterior cruciate ligament, itself an injury that often leads to a year on the sidelines—and even longer before a player might get back to his pre-injury best, if he ever does.
What is at least positive is that, similar to an ACL, athlete recoveries from a ruptured achilles have improved somewhat in recent years, and what was once synonymous with the end of a career is now seen as at least an injury that can be recovered from.
That recovery, though, will take time. It will be nine months at minimum and more likely a full year before Ekitike might reasonably be expected to kick a ball again.
Longer term, it’s also highly likely the player will lose some of his explosiveness and acceleration, and it might take until summer 2027 before anyone has a clear picture about what realistic expectations might be for Ekitike post-injury. This is a blow, and there’s simply no way around that.
Hopefully, in time, Hugo Ekitike can get back to looking like the player he has been at his best this season, both for Liverpool Football Club and for the French national team.
