Liverpool's Transfer Dilemma: Ekitike Injury Concerns
Liverpool’s summer plan was clear enough: replace Mohamed Salah on the right and trust that Hugo Ekitike would grow into a major piece of the club’s next attacking era.
William Gallas has just poured a bucket of cold water over that idea.
A brutal injury and a brutal truth
Ekitike is not expected back until at least Christmas after suffering serious Achilles damage in April’s Champions League tie against his former club Paris Saint-Germain. He is back around the group, working through his rehabilitation with the senior squad on the pre-season tour of the United States, but the timeline is only part of the story.
The bigger concern is what comes after the lay-off.
"I didn't have Hugo Ekitike’s injury, but I know it's very difficult to come back 100% after it," Gallas said, speaking to iPredicta. "Most of the players didn't make it."
That is the fear lurking behind Liverpool’s optimism. An Achilles injury is not a simple hurdle for an explosive forward. It changes how a player moves, how he trusts his body, how he presses and sprints in the chaos of a Premier League game.
Gallas didn’t sugar-coat it.
"I know he's still young, but he will have to take his time. Liverpool may have to think twice too. They may have to bring a new player, because nobody knows if he's going to be back in his best."
The message is blunt: hope is not a strategy.
Transfer plans under pressure
Liverpool are already scouring the market for a right-winger to step into the space left by Salah’s departure. That search was supposed to be the headline act of their summer. Ekitike, at 24, was viewed as a longer-term project, someone who could be integrated carefully once fit.
Gallas is urging them to widen the lens.
"Listen, we know when we get big injuries, it’s very difficult to come back to your best shape," he said.
Then came the example that will make Liverpool’s recruitment department shift in their seats.
"Look what happened to Wesley Fofana from Chelsea. Before, when he was at Leicester, he had a season that was just unbelievable. And then he got that bad injury. And from that bad injury, he never came back to his best performance. It could be the same for Ekitike.”
That comparison stings. Fofana looked like one of the most gifted young defenders in England before his serious injury problems. His trajectory stalled, then twisted. The warning is clear: talent and age do not guarantee a full return to previous levels.
For Liverpool, that raises a stark question. Is one attacking signing enough? Or does a club trying to stay in the title conversation need another forward now, rather than waiting to see what version of Ekitike steps back onto the pitch?
Jacquet backed to step into Konate’s shadow
While Gallas sounded the alarm over Ekitike, he struck a far more confident tone about Liverpool’s business at the other end of the pitch.
Jeremy Jacquet has arrived from Rennes in a £60million deal, charged with the task of filling the void left by Ibrahima Konate’s departure. It is a sizeable fee and a sizeable responsibility, but Gallas believes Liverpool have moved for the right profile.
"Jeremy Jacquet is a big boy," he said. "He's a big boy and he's got quality. If you go to Liverpool, you know he has got quality."
That is the standard now. Liverpool no longer sign players to quietly develop in the shadows; they sign players to compete, immediately, at the sharp end of English and European football.
"So now it's always the same question: you need to adapt and play alongside some of the best players," Gallas added.
Few defenders in world football offer a better guide than Virgil van Dijk. The Dutchman has seen off challengers, partners and pretenders across his Anfield career. His presence gives Liverpool’s new centre-back a platform and a reference point.
"Virgil van Dijk can help him a lot. Yeah, he needs some time, but I think he can do the job of replacing Ibrahima Konate."
Time, again, is the theme. Jacquet needs it to adapt. Ekitike needs it to heal. Liverpool, though, do not have much of it to waste.
A new manager, a reshaped spine, a title race that will not wait. The club must decide quickly: trust recovery and potential, or act decisively in the market and bring in another forward before the season exposes any wishful thinking.
