Liverpool's Attack Strategy in Question Amid Ekitike Injury Concerns

Liverpool’s rebuild up front may need an extra layer of protection. Not just a replacement for Mohamed Salah, but cover for a striker whose future level is suddenly shrouded in uncertainty.

Hugo Ekitike, signed as part of Liverpool’s next attacking cycle, is not expected back in competitive action until at least Christmas after suffering serious Achilles damage in April during the Champions League clash against his former club Paris Saint-Germain. He is with the senior squad on their pre-season tour of the United States, working through rehabilitation, but the scale of the injury has triggered alarm from those who know what long layoffs can do to a career.

One of them is former France defender William Gallas, who did not sugarcoat the challenge ahead.

“I didn't have Hugo Ekitike’s injury, but I know it's very difficult to come back 100% after it,” he said. “Most of the players didn't make it.”

That line will echo around the recruitment offices at Anfield. Liverpool already need a right-winger after Salah’s departure. Now, Gallas believes they must factor in the possibility that Ekitike may never quite be the same player.

“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.

“Listen, we know when we get big injuries, it’s very difficult to come back to your best shape.”

The warning is not theoretical. Gallas reached for a stark recent example.

“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.”

For Liverpool, the message is clear: hope for a full recovery, plan for something less. A club that has prided itself on smart squad-building may now have to decide whether one attacking signing is enough in this window, or whether the risk profile around Ekitike’s comeback demands another forward option to ease both the physical and psychological burden on the 24-year-old.

While questions swirl around the front line, there is more certainty in defence.

Gallas, speaking to iPredicta, is convinced that Jeremy Jacquet, the £60million summer arrival from Rennes, has the tools to step straight into the space left by Ibrahima Konate.

“Jeremy Jacquet is a big boy,” Gallas said. “He's a big boy and he's got quality. If you go to Liverpool, you know he has got quality. So now it's always the same question: you need to adapt and play alongside some of the best players.”

That adaptation, Gallas believes, will be eased by the presence of one man.

“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.”

So Liverpool enter the new season with a defence Gallas trusts and an attack he clearly doesn’t. The club can’t control how quickly Ekitike’s Achilles responds or whether he ever fully recaptures his explosiveness. It can control how much it gambles on that outcome in the transfer market.