HE’S the man with the symmetrical name hoping to become a household name in the English game.
Hugo Ekitike is the hot topic of conversation on Premier League lips right now.
And the French striker has shown there is far more to him than a surname that reads the same back to front.
Following a sensational breakthrough season with Eintracht Frankfurt, Ekitike is rated at £85million and linked with Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea.
With No 9s in short supply, the 23-year-old has emerged as a genuine alternative to the likes of Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres.
Not that he is any stranger to these shores having TWICE turned down moves to Newcastle – first in January 2022 and again seven months later.
Ekitike opted for Paris Saint-Germain instead, stating at the time: “I’m not setting aside everything Newcastle did for me.
“If I had to go abroad, I would have gone there. But when PSG wants you and you’re French, you can’t refuse.”
As it turned out, Ekitike ran into a Galactico roadblock in the form of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, while the Toon signed Alexander Isak instead.
But now he is available again, we’ve run the rule over the wiry hotshot Messi dubbed ‘The Iron Rod’.
SO IS HE ANY GOOD?
Well, the simple answer is yes. Last season he scored 15 goals and produced eight assists in the Bundesliga, playing 33 of the 34 matches.
Throw in another seven goals and four assists in cup competitions, including the Europa League, and you can see why the Premier League’s vultures are circling.
What really impressed the Frankfurt fans was how he adapted to the loss of Omar Marmoush in January.
Up until then, the pair had been blazing away as a two-man frontline.
But once Marmoush left for Manchester City, Eintracht boss Dino Toppmoller completely changed tack and played one up front with Ekitike leading the line.
Far from derailing the youngster, he thrived on the lone role, scoring three times in the first two games following Marmoush’s exit and maintaining his numbers until the end of the season.
WHAT ARE HIS STRENGTHS?
Dribbling is probably his main asset. Ekitike has quick feet and an ability to dance past defenders through seemingly impossible gaps with the ball glued to his boots.
Right footed, he is technically gifted and has explosive pace. At 6ft 3in, he looks gangly but is in fact deceptively balanced.
He also offers versatility. Ekitike can play as a No 9, a second striker, or as a winger.
He loves to drop deep to link play and is excellent at running the channels or cutting in from the left flank and shooting.
That has prompted comparisons with Thierry Henry, although a fairer likeness would be Isak.
Ekitike is also very good at pressing and winning the ball back high up the pitch.
AND HIS WEAKNESSES?
He is still very raw and, despite his success last season, there are improvements to be made.
Ekitike can be guilty of a lack of composure in the final third. Last season, he had more shots than anyone in the Bundesliga (117) but managed only a 13 per cent conversion rate.
Compare that to the 23 per cent that Harry Kane achieved from his 114 shots and you would be forgiven for painting a picture of wastefulness.
However, it has as much to do with decision-making as it does accuracy.
Ekitike likes to have a pop from range with 24 per cent of his efforts coming from outside the box, with less chance of beating the keeper.
He is stronger than he looks but, even so, there are occasions where he is knocked off the ball too easily.
And don’t be in a rush to hand him penalty duties. He missed two in the space of a month for Eintracht last season.
CAN HE HACK IT IN THE PREM?
Often players coming from the Bundesliga struggle at first with the superior physicality of the Premier League. Kai Havertz, Timo Werner and Leon Bailey are examples of that.
Marmoush has bucked that trend and it would be astonishing if a player as talented as Florian Wirtz doesn’t hit the ground running.
As for Ekitike, he will probably need a bit of patience. Prior to last season, he had only reached double figures for goals once before when he scored 10 for his hometown club Stade de Reims in 2021-22.
And his time at PSG yielded just three strikes in 33 appearances, 19 of which were off the bench.
That said, he has shown he is capable of troubling top opposition, netting against Bayern Munich, Dortmund, Leverkusen and Leipzig last season.
He left Pedro Porro in his wake on his way to scoring a 20-yarder against Tottenham in April’s Europa League quarter-final.
And a month before that, he put three past an England Under-21 defence that included Rico Lewis and Taylor Harwood-Bellis.
IS HE WORTH THE MONEY?
At £85m, it is a sizeable gamble and Prem clubs should be wary of the Frankfurt curse.
The Eagles have a knack of selling strikers at a massive profit, only for them to struggle at their next club.
Luka Jovic (£52m), Sebastien Haller (£42m), Randal Kolo Muani (£77m) and Andre Silva (£20m) definitely fall into the category of transfers where you wished you had kept the receipt.
Marmoush’s success at City has broken the hoodoo and there is no doubt Ekitike has a higher ceiling than 27-year-old Gyokeres.
If clubs can knock the asking price down to the £70m that Sesko is commanding, then Ekitike is maybe the better bet.
Read the full article here
