Hugo Ekitike to Liverpool: FPL Breakdown

By: Ahsan Ejaz

Transfer Overview:

Transfer:

• From Eintracht Frankfurt to Liverpool.

Tranfer Fee:

• £69 million plus £13 million in add ons.

Contract:

• 6 years. Ekitike’s contract runs until 2031.

Wages:

•  Reports from the likes of Florian Plettenberg suggesting he is earning around £250k-270k per week are almost certainly false. Liverpool have a very strict wage structure and would never give any new player outside of superstars like Isak and Wirtz similar wages to Mohamed Salah or Virgil Van Dijk on his first contract, and even Wirtz earns less than both the veterans.
• It is far more likely the French striker will earn between the reported £120-£150k per week from some sources, with likely goal, assist and trophy bonuses.

 

Individual Analysis:

Height:

• Ekitike is 190cm/6″2

Position:

• Ekitike’s most natural position and where he played the majority of his minutes for Frankfurt is as a central striker.
• Ekitike is a complete forward with pace, high level technical ability and a high IQ, so he linked very well with Marmoush in a 2 man strike partnership or could also play on the LW also as more of a left inside forward.
• His skillset is not that dissimilar to Gakpo who Arne Slot favoured at LW last season.
• The reports from Liverpool reporters after the club signed Ekitike was they view him as a ‘multi-functional forward’, which likely means he plays 2 positions in Slot’s mind – striker and left winger.

 

(Source: Sofascore.com)

Role & Stats:

• Ekitike is a complete forward with excellent technical ability, pace, dribbling ability, a high IQ, is a high quality creative player for a natural striker along with a varied range of finishes in his locker.
• He is a very tall and languid player but he has a rapid turn of pace, level of strength to hold off centre-backs, quick feet and agility you wouldn’t expect from such a tall player.
• Ekitike lead all U23 strikers in Europe’s top 7 Leagues last season for non-penalty goals, goals + assists, xG, xA, key passes, progressive carries, shots on target and touches in the box. That is quite an incredible feat for one player to rank 1st in all of those categories.
• The former Frankfurt striker scored 15 goals from 21.7xG in the Bundesliga last season. 21.7xG would have ranked 3rd in the Premier League last season behind only Salah and Haaland. Ekitike’s post shot xG was 18.7xG which shows his xG under-performance was not all down to any perceived poor finishing.
• Ekitike’s high xG total is also partly down to how many shots he takes, which is something that he will have to iron out of his game at Liverpool. The focus will go from volume to efficiency in a team expected to win major trophies. But I don’t see this as being an issue that Ekitike specifically will find difficult to improve, he is an intelligent footballer, and when you watch him, he does not look like a poor finisher.
• He has every finish in his locker: curl it far corner like he did against Spurs in the Europa League, smashing it hard and high, rounding the keeper when needed, getting on the end of cutbacks, headed goals, deft flicks and chips in tight spaces over or around GK’s and the list could go on. Just needs to work on the efficiency, but he will be getting much higher xG chances created for him in one of the best attacking teams on the planet, playing with Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo, Mac Allister etc. With Frankfurt Ekitike had to do it all and do it as the best player in a team that does not dominate possession or have elite talents all over the pitch.
• Ekitike is a very good link player and is good at holding up the ball as a striker. He has good vision and can execute many types of pass. His specialties are the wall pass layoff to a player crashing the box for them to finish, and the trivela pass from the left hand side into the final third.
• The young Frenchman is a good creative player from central spaces. Ekitike registered 5.4xA and created 44 chances last season. He has good capability to thread through balls and flick balls on to teammates and inside the box makes good decisions in setting up teammates for chances.
• Ekitike is an good dribbler overall and an elite one for a striker. The eye test checks out and he completed 52 dribbles last season which is 100th percentile for Bundesliga strikers. He completed 1.8 successful dribbles per 90; the most successful dribbles per 90 a Premier League striker last season was Liam Delap with 1.4.

 

(Source: Fotmob.com)

FPL Analysis:

FPL Price:

• £8.5m

Expected Minutes:

• Ekitike’s expected minutes are not that secure for an £8.5m player. Alexander Isak is widely expected to join Liverpool in the coming weeks, with him sitting out of Newcastle’s far east tour, refusing to train and wanting to join the Reds. Liverpool’s British transfer record bid is set to be tabled in the next few days.
• This is key, because despite the fact that Ekitike is a multi functional forward in Slot’s eyes, Isak signing means Liverpool’s front 3 to start the season will likely be Gakpo-Isak-Salah.
• Ekitike will then be the 4th forward in the pecking order, where he will rotate in to start some games at LW and striker, especially when the fixtures pile up, and will be a key substitute, likely coming on in every game for one of Gakpo or Isak. However, this is not the expected minutes profile we want from a Premium Forward. We need a guaranteed starter for the Frenchman’s price-tag.
• If Ekitike can propel himself into being Slot’s preferred option at LW over Gakpo, and he regularly starts alongside Isak and Salah, then that changes everything and he becomes a viable FPL option.

FPL Position:

• Premium Forward

FPL profile:

• He is a Premium Forward who I don’t expect will have high EO in the early weeks of the season as he is not expected to start if Alexander Isak signs for Liverpool.
• His expected minutes are not very high or secure as of today, and so most FPL managers will steer clear in the early GW’s and this is the correct decision.
• If Ekitike does become a regular starter, either at LW or as the striker if the Isak deal falls through, then he becomes a serious factor in FPL as he could take his game to the next level playing for an elite manager besides elite players in a team that will create far better chances for him than he got at Frankfurt.
• However, for now, he is just one to watch, not one to own.

Team Impact:

• If we look at Ekitike and Isak as Nunez and Diogo Jota (rest in peace) replacements, it is impossible to argue they have not upgraded significantly at those two spots.
• Specifically with Ekitike, he adds IQ that Nunez does not possess, and a level of pace, creativity and dribbling skill that Jota, after many injuries, no longer displayed on a consistent basis.
• Adding Ekitike makes Liverpool a taller team that is more dominant aerially in both boxes.
• The young French forward adds a level of technical ability, skill reliable hold-up play that Nunez and Jota did not.
• Liverpool will be a superior pressing team to the team they were last season due to signing Ekitike. He is one of the best pressing forwards in the world quite frankly and is relentless with it. His pace, tall frame and long legs really help with this aspect of his game.

 

My Prediction:

• I will not own Ekitike to begin the season, with his expected minutes being too low and price-tag too high. I think he is a very talented player that could absolutely take the LW role from Gakpo, but we will need to see it to feel comfortable in owning him.
• Liverpool players are at a premium and I would much rather own 3 of Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo, Kerkez or Van Dijk than Ekitike as of today.
• If the Isak to Liverpool transfer that we all expect to happen does fall through and Ekitike is looking like Slot’s starting striker come GW1, then he absolutely becomes a player FPL managers may want to own and will need to watch for how he performs in early weeks.

G/A Prediction:

• 9 goals

• 6 assists

 

Last updated: 28/07