Of all the new recruits to Liverpool this summer, Hugo Ekitike has had arguably the best start to his Anfield career. The France international has already scored three goals in his first three games, making him the first player to achieve that feat since Daniel Sturridge in 2013.
It must not be easy carving a place for yourself in a league winning team with such world class players, especially in attack, but Ekitike has proven to be up to the challenge in the opening stages of this season.
“I think
I adapted well,” he told the official site. “Obviously I still have things to improve, but I think it was a good [start].”
On his early camaraderie with his new teammates, Ekitike credits much of that easy adaptation to their help.
“I feel good with the guys, they helped me to adapt here so obviously they make my football easier,” he admits. “And when you play with good players like this, you can improve and you can have success like that. The most important [thing] is to continue to be consistent.”
Former Liverpool player Daniel Sturridge was unfortunately hampered by persistent injuries that kept him from reaching fully legend status with the club. However, his arrival in the winter of 2013 revitalized Brendan Rodgers’ lackluster squad, evidenced by the aforementioned goals scored in each of his opening three games. The matches when he played alongside the controversial but undeniably talented Luis Suarez often produced a glut of goals for the Reds.
On the comparison to predecessor, Ekitike says, “It’s good to be compared to Sturridge, I know he has been a great, great player here at Liverpool, so it’s good and I want to do my best to do better than him. My mindset [is]: play with the best players in the world. It helps you to get better. All together, all the players, we are going to reach even a better level together.”
Ekitike is expected to start again on Sunday when Liverpool return from the international break to take on Burnley at Turf Moor. The arrival of Alexander Isak to the team on deadline day means that Ekitike has even more motivation to perform well and distinguish himself in order to compete for his position.
“It’s going to be tough competition, but I’m going to focus on performing well so that it’s a problem for the manager,” he said when the transfer was complete.
Indeed, having two hungry, extremely talented players eager to show their worth will be a huge benefit to Arne Slot and the team, especially in the immediate future, as Liverpool are about to jump into both the Carabao Cup and the Champions League in the next week.
