Liverpool got their first proper look at Florian Wirtz on Saturday as he played 45 minutes against AC Milan.
The Reds may have lost 4-2 to Milan, but that did not stop fans getting excited in Hong Kong.
Wirtz showed off his brilliance throughout the opening half, linking up beautifully with Mohamed Salah and giving a taster of what is to come at Liverpool.
And Wirtz was not the only new player to turn out, with Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and Giorgi Mamardashvili all in action too.
Of Liverpool’s new quintet, only Hugo Ekitike did not get on the pitch for the Reds on Saturday. Given he only arrived in Hong Kong on Thursday, that is hardly a surprise.
There are now four days until Liverpool play again, though, and Arne Slot has revealed whether he expects Ekitike to play some part against Yokohama F. Marinos on Wednesday.
Hugo Ekitike set to make Liverpool debut next week
With Darwin Nunez missing Saturday’s game through injury, Liverpool were without a recognised centre-forward.
Harvey Elliott and Wirtz did a good job as dual No. 10s, but it was fairly clear why the Reds needed to go big on signing Ekitike.
With other players also missing the match through injury, Slot was asked by LFCTV whether Alexis Mac Allister will be fit to return on Wednesday, and used his answer to confirm that the Reds’ new French striker should play some part, even if Mac Allister may not.
“He [Mac Allister] hasn’t trained with the team yet,” answered the Liverpool head coach. “The idea for him is to train part of the session on Monday and Tuesday, so hopefully he will have some training minutes with the team.”
READ MORE: Neil Mellor names ‘standout’ Liverpool player who has impressed him in both pre-season games so far
“I’m not too sure if he can play some minutes in the game already, but some others will,” Slot added.
“Wata [Endo] was a minor injury, Darwin was a minor injury, and Hugo will have some minutes as well. So, the team will have a different look and feel than we had tonight.”
Liverpool show why Ekitike is needed
Liverpool did well in large parts of Saturday’s game, but they were hindered by the obvious lack of a genuine striker.
Wirtz and Elliott looked good playing furthest forward during the first half, but it was clear that with a centre-forward to run in behind they could have done more damage.
In the second-half, it was left to Ben Doak to be Liverpool’s threat through the middle, which is clearly not his game.
As a result, Slot was shown exactly why Ekitike’s addition to the Liverpool squad was completely necessary.
Furthermore, the match also proved why the Reds can probably house both Ekitike and Alexander Isak within the same team.
Whether that will happen remains to be seen, but a first look at the new man on Wednesday is certainly enough to look forward to regardless of whether he’ll be joined by Isak at a later date.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
