Liverpool signed both Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak to strengthen their attacking options in the summer transfer window.
Ekitike was signed earlier from Eintracht Frankfurt and he made an impressive start to the team for the Reds.
The French attacker has scored two goals in the Premier League and one goal in the Community Shield.
Isak was signed later due to Newcastle United playing hard ball over letting him leave the club.
French football journalist Julien Laurens has now claimed that Ekitike would not have signed for the Premier League giants if he knew that they would also be signing Isak this summer.
Isak, being the most expensive signing in Premier League history, is expected to start week in week out for the Merseyside club and that would push Ekitike to the bench.
Even against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, Isak started the match and Ekitike came on as a substitute.
Would Hugo Ekitike accept a substitute role at Liverpool?
Speaking on BBC 5 Live Sport, Laurens has claimed that in his opinion, Ekitike would not have signed for the club if he knew they would be signing Isak as well.
He said:
“I really don’t think so [would have signed if he knew Isak was coming]. I really think he signed after a first approach from Liverpool to Newcastle for Isak, when Newcastle closed the door. From a Liverpool point of view, that was before Isak went on strike or stopped training with them. Then, they kind of reverted to Ekitike who was on his way to Newcastle in the first place.”
“We knew that as soon as Isak would be fit, the one to be dropped would be Ekitike. It was just very clear. Can they play together? Of course they can through games, you can play Ekitike, maybe a bit on the left, but that’s not his position really.”
“It’s never going to be Ekitike ahead of Isak unless Isak is not fit.”
Arne Slot has to manage his strikers cleverly
While having both strikers is an advantage for the Reds and manager Arne Slot, it could be bad news for Ekitike as his playing time would now get affected.
As Laurens rightly pointed out, Slot could still use both of them together with Ekitike on the left and Isak up front, but the question remains, would that suit Ekitike’s game and bring the best out of him?
Although it makes sense on paper, it could still mean nothing as Slot could find a way to deploy both of them together.
It is still too early to make assumptions about both the strikers since the season started just over a month ago.
All we know is that the Reds now have two talented strikers and considering they compete for all the competitions they take part in, both attackers will get enough chances to make their mark.
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