Hugo Ekitike’s Achilles rupture has left Liverpool fans devastated, but there is light at the end of the tunnel — just ask the experts.
Liverpool can’t seem to catch a break with regard to injuries. Just as Alexander Isak is returning, Ekitike has been ruled out of Liverpool action for the rest of the season and far beyond.
The Frenchman went down with an Achilles Tendon Rupture (ATR), which sounds pretty bad. Fortunately, plenty of research has been conducted on this specific injury and the verdict could go a long way towards easing the minds of Liverpool fans, who worry it could be a career-altering injury.
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Studies suggest Hugo Ekitike will fully recover at Liverpool
Sports science has become more and more prominent in the modern game, and while it can sometimes overcomplicate discourse, there are many valuable uses for delving further into the mechanics of an injury.
In many sports, an ATR can be a career-ending injury. But researchers looked into the long-term ramifications specifically in professional footballers in a 2021 study, and the results are encouraging.
The AOSSM paper claims: “Soccer players who suffered an ATR (Achilles Tendon Rupture) had a 78% RTP (Return to Play) rate, with a mean RTP time of 5 months. Injured players played less and demonstrated inferior performance during the season of injury.
“With the exception of midfielders, players displayed no significant differences in play time or performance during any of the 4 postinjury seasons.”
In simple terms, there will be a regression of sorts in the period following recovery, but there’s no evidence to suggest this injury will diminish his game long-term. About four in five cases see a full recovery, and the average return time of five months is far less than initial reports are predicting.
Ekitike is still just 23, so while this is a devastating setback especially in a World Cup year, the science suggests he will get back to the levels he has shown this season, and hopefully beyond.
When Hugo Ekitike could play for Liverpool after club statement
At time of writing, Liverpool have just released an official statement about the injury to their star striker.
It reads: “The forward had to be substituted during the first half of Tuesday’s Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield after a slip on the turf. Scans on the issue have subsequently confirmed a rupture of the Achilles tendon.
“Ekitike will therefore be sidelined for the remaining weeks of the club season and unable to participate at this summer’s World Cup with France.Further updates will be provided at the appropriate time, with Hugo receiving the full support of everyone at LFC.”
We’re still in the early stages of assessing the full effects of his Achilles rupture. Reports in France claimed Ekitike will be out for nine months, but this paper has five months as the average window for recovery.
If it is the shorter window, we could see the Frenchman back in the side in September. That would be huge for the Reds, and might even deter them from replacing Ekitike’s minutes through recruitment.
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That’s the optimist’s stance, but a nine-month window would mean no Ekitike until 2027. In that case, his impact would need to be substituted.
It could be that Liverpool hold off on making any concrete decisions until August, when they will have a much clearer picture of his prospects for the season. Let’s hope it’s a quick mend and that the France international doesn’t deviate from the scientific norm in getting past this injury.
- READ MORE: What happened to the last Liverpool player to suffer Achilles rupture after Hugo Ekitike incident
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