Opinion

Hugo Ekitike is already proving why he was once compared to Kylian Mbappe and Neymar at Liverpool

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Liverpool have had a perfect start to the 2025-26 Premier League season as they’ve won all three of their top-flight games thus far.

Indeed, there were certainly some shaky moments throughout their wins, but the main thing that matters is that the Reds earned all nine points.

Even before the summer transfer window got underway, Arne Slot’s men were the favourites to win the title, and now that they’ve added Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz to their ranks, anything but a title is likely to be seen as a failure.

This summer alone, Slot and Richard Hughes have spent over £400million trying to bolster their first-team squad; however, due to the number of players they’ve sold, their net spend is just over £200million.

Arne Slot, Manager of Liverpool, acknowledges the fans following the team's victory during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield.
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images

And, even though Wirtz and Isak will be the talk of the town for most of the season, others, such as Hugo Ekitike, have already taken like a duck to water.

Wesley Sneijder once compared Hugo Ekitike to Neymar and Kylian Mbappe

One thing that shocked Liverpool fans was how agile Ekitike was.

Their new number nine is 6 foot 2, and most strikers of this height are seen as target men.

However, due to the amount of pace Ekitike has and the agility he has in his locker, he’s managed to bob and weave through each defence he’s faced.

In fact, Chris Sutton has even dubbed Ekitike “ruthless” after his performance against Newcastle.

And, back in March 2025, Wesley Sneijder even compared the Frenchman to Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.

“I might say something really crazy, but I’ll say it anyway: I think he’s a mix between Neymar and [Kylian] Mbappé. I sincerely think so,” he said in quotes relayed by Foot Mundo.

“He has the grace of Neymar, but also the movements of Mbappé.

“To suddenly accelerate, that’s something that Mbappé also has. And he’s only 22 years old. There’s really a lot of potential in this boy.”

Hugo Ekitike has already proven why Liverpool spent £69m on him this summer

Before the summer transfer window had even opened, it was clear that Liverpool needed to add some more attacking talent to their ranks.

Last season, Mohamed Salah carried the Reds on his back after he managed to contribute to over 50 goals across all competitions.

And, even though he managed to do that last season, it doesn’t feel likely that The Egyptian King will be able to pull off numbers like that ever again.

Mohamed Salah raises a fist to the Anfield crowd after scoring in the Premier League against Bournemouth
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images

This meant that players such as Darwin Nunez needed to be moved on from Anfield and replaced with some younger talent who had plenty of potential to fulfil.

At the moment, most of Slot’s summer signings have done well, and, even though it’s still early days, the fact that Ekitike has already bagged three goals and has even chipped in with an assist shows how crucial he’s going to be throughout the 2025-26 campaign.