© IMAGO – Hugo Ekitike Liverpool
It looks like Liverpool are closing in on the signing of Hugo Ekitike and Arne Slot has already explained why he could be the perfect player for his system at the club.
There’s been a lot of conversations about the Frenchman and whether or not he’s the right fit for the Reds. Understandably, Liverpool are paying a lot of money for his services and there is trepidation when it comes to big money forward signings at Anfield, after Darwin Nunez’s lack of success at the club.
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But Ekitike is a completely different player and fans should have no qualms about his arrival. Ekitike is someone who is going to evolve Slot’s attack and give him exactly what he needs.
Best of all, he’s only 23-years-old, with room to grow and become even better in the coming years ahead.
So, just why is Ekitike the perfect Liverpool forward? Well, the answer is obvious and it was given by Slot himself in a press conference last season.
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Speaking in his press conference ahead of the Reds’ clash against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup last season, Slot was asked about the type of attacker he likes to have in his team, and whether he wants more of a ‘facilitator’ rather than a goalscorer.
“I will be happy if that player becomes both,” Slot said.
“‘Facilitator’, nice word, I didn’t know that one yet, and scoring goals himself – that is, again, what we want to achieve in the end.
“But I also saw the penalty (at Bournemouth) from Cody [Gakpo] where Lucho [Luis Diaz] played a part without even touching the ball.
“He dragged the centre-back out which led to Cody being in a one-vs-one and he made a deep run and got tripped.
“In the end you want attackers and midfielders to score, we’ve spoken about our attacking midfielder as well.
“We need to get goals from many positions, including them and including centre-backs that can score from set-pieces also.
“So, that’s what I just said, we are trying to work on the training ground and with the feedback we give them after the game to make team better and better and better and in the end, the No. 9 should be a facilitator, like a winger, but a winger and a No. 9 should also score goals.”
As Slot explained here, his perfect striker is someone who is very fluid, capable of interchanging with the wingers, making runs out wide, creating space for others and also doing what a striker should do – scoring goals and thriving inside the penalty area.
Ekitike is all of these things.
As per FBref, he ranks in the 90th for non-penalty expected goals per 90 minutes (0.60) among strikers in Europe’s top five leagues. He also ranks in the 93rd percentile for shots (3.73 per 90) so he’s good at doing what a striker does – which is getting himself into shooting opportunities.
But there’s much more to Ekitike than just that. He’s also a provider. He ranks in the 95th percentile for expected-assisted goals (0.25 per 90) and in the 94th percentile for shot-creating-actions (3.50 per 90).
On top of that he’s good in one vs one situations when taking on defenders ranking in the 96th percentile for progressive carries (3.04 per 90) and for successful take-ons (1.90 per 90).
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This is why he’s perfect for Slot. He’s the facilitator and goal-scorer the Dutchman has been after for several months now.
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