A few of Liverpool’s new recruits have certainly caught the eye early on this season.
The Reds do not really know what has hit them over the past few weeks or so, with everyone left scratching their heads.
Four successive losses is not something that should be on the record of the reigning Premier League champions, but that is the case for them right now.
Despite spending close to £450m, not many of the new signings have made a real impression just yet, although that is not to say some of them have not.
In fact, one in particular has stood head and shoulders above the rest of the new recruits, and perhaps even the entire team, with ex-Red Emile Heskey left impressed.
Hugo Ekitike has impressed Emile Heskey
Despite the memes that have been made about him by many of the newer generation of football fans, Heskey was a quality striker in his day, and he certainly knows what it takes to make it at the top.
So, the Englishman’s praise for Hugo Ekitike only reinforces just how good the Frenchman has been, with Liverpool a much better team when he is in it.
“He’s settled. He looks settled. He looks really, really good,” Heskey said on the No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast.
“He’s a young lad who’s just full of energy, just wants to get on the ball, wants to take players on, wants to… He’s more of a traditional to what we know as a front two. Where they’re going down the wing.
“He doesn’t say he’s central. If you watch him, he’s on the left wing one minute, then he’s on the right wing the next minute. Then he’s like trying to drop in and trying to get the ball to turn and go and drive with it.
“So yeah, he’s a bundle of energy at the minute. Maybe needs to focus on trying to stay the width of the goal or something like that.”
Hugo Ekitike should be one of the first names on the teamsheet
There are many things not going right for Liverpool at this moment in time, but one of the things being questioned is Arne Slot’s team selection.
He has benched Ekitike for the last two matches, much to the frustration of many fans, despite the Frenchman being one of Liverpool’s best players so far this season.
The reason for this is because they also have Alexander Isak available, but based on merit alone, Ekitike has to be starting more often than not.
Against Frankfurt, he is almost a nailed-on starter and it would be no surprise to see him shine once again, but if he does, then surely Slot starts him at every chance possible.
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