Hugo Ekitike is ready to show he can become Liverpool's post-Mohamed Salah poster boy

Mohamed Salah bid farewell to Anfield on Saturday – but was it for good? The fact that he'd even made it onto the pitch was clearly a positive sign. After Salah's extraordinary attack on Arne Slot and the club the previous weekend, there was a very real fear that 'The Egyptian King' might not even make the squad for Liverpool's final fixture before he headed off to the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.

Salah, though, wasn't just included; he contributed a very significant assist that not only allowed Hugo Ekitike to score the hosts' killer second goal – but also saw the winger break Wayne Rooney's record for the most direct goal involvements for a single club in Premier League history. It was, thus, a very timely reminder of just how much Salah has given to Liverpool – and how much he still has to offer, which is why, despite the best efforts of Jamie Carragher, the 33-year-old was applauded both onto and off the pitch.

However, Salah wasn't the only player serenaded at Anfield on Saturday. Ekitike's name also rang out around the ground when he was withdrawn due to cramp with 12 minutes remaining, which only served to show that there is no player better placed right now to lead the Liverpool attack while Salah is away – or succeed him as the club's poster boy.

Getty Images SportIsak 'far better' than Ekitike

Back in September, former Manchester United assistant manager Rene Meulensteen felt that in spite of Ekitike's strong start to his Liverpool career (three goals in his first three games), he was going to have to get used to sitting on the bench as soon as Alexander Isak was fully fit because his fellow forward was "a far better, more rounded player with more Premier League experience".

At the time, very few people would have disagreed with the Dutchman. It was obviously impossible to dispute the claim that former Newcastle striker Isak had more experience than the Frenchman. Indeed, the amount of money Liverpool paid for Ekitike (£69 million) raised a lot of eyebrows around Anfield, given he'd yet to be capped by France and was coming off the back of just one good season in Germany with Eintracht Frankfurt.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportHaaland-like potential

However, the size of the fee never bothered Ekitike. He was utterly convinced he was good enough to shine in the Premier League – and Liverpool were too.

Although it may have looked like the Reds moved for Ekitike to force Newcastle into letting Isak leave St. James' Park, they'd been following the Frenchman for some time. Director of research Will Spearman had found that, from a statistical perspective, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe were the only strikers to have shown 'greater potential at a comparable age', and the belief was that Slot was the perfect manager to get the absolutely most out of Ekitike.

The early signs are certainly very encouraging, because while Florian Wirtz's influence is growing with each passing week, Ekitike has undoubtedly proven himself the best addition to Liverpool's squad during the first four months of the season.

Matching Salah's start

To put Ekitike's instantaneous impact on Merseyside in context, the 23-year-old has scored as many goals in his first 10 starts for Liverpool (seven) as Salah during his record-breaking 2017-18 campaign, with only Daniel Sturridge having ever managed more (eight).

After back-to-back braces against Leeds United and Brighton, Ekitike also now has 10 goals in all competitions – twice as many as any other Liverpool player, which is seriously impressive when one considers he's started seven games on the bench. 

"He's very clinical," Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk told reporters on Saturday. "It's not been an easy season, but for him to come in and produce these numbers is excellent. It's something we need."

Indeed, the days of Ekitike being left out of Slot's starting line-up to accommodate Isak in his desperate bid to get back up to speed are likely already over – especially with Salah away on AFCON duty and Cody Gakpo out injured.

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AFP'On my back'

No matter what way Liverpool want to line up during a festive period that is absolutely crucial to their hopes of turning their season around, Ekitike has to play right from the first whistle – whether that's out wide, in tandem with Isak or in place of the British-record signing.

There may have been legitimate doubts over his attitude after a sending-off against Southampton in the Carabao Cup that the usually reserved Slot labelled "needless and stupid", but Ekitike apologised for the idiocy of picking up a second yellow for taking off his shirt while celebrating his winning goal – and, more importantly, learned from it.

He's clearly an exuberant and expressive character, meaning he struggles to hide his frustration on the field, but there have been no further signs of egotism in recent weeks – only a sustained effort to deliver what Slot is asking of him.

"As a player, sometimes you're p*ssed off, as it can be annoying," Ekitike told the , "but I know that [the manager] wants the best for me and he wants the best for the team. I would say he's on my back, but (it's) not a bad thing. He just wants to help me, so I don't take that badly. He wants me to give more and more." And, to Ekitike's credit, his overall output has increased.