The Liverpool forward returns to his former club tonight having said a classy farewell to them in the summer
Mark is a Content Editor at Reach PLC's Liverpool Hub, and was appointed to the role in 2025. Prior to that appointment he worked solely for the Mirror for nine years, primarily in the role of Sports Features Editor. An experienced sports writer and editor, Mark worked for the Mirror at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and at Euro 2024 in Germany. A regular contributor to podcasts and videos, his work can be seen both in print and online, and his exclusive interview with the Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk in April 2024 is one of many successful projects Mark has completed for Reach PLC.
Hugo Ekitike will be back at his former club Frankfurt on Wednesday
Hugo Ekitike will be back at his former club Frankfurt on Wednesday
View Image
Now we don't want to start out by shattering any illusions. But let's just say that not all footballers' social media posts are written by them.
We won't go much further into it because we don't want to bring this whole house of cards crashing down, but you can at least be sure that whoever does type out the message and presses send will have got the final go ahead from the player themselves. That's if it isn't the player themselves who has done the sending of course. And it might be. Potentially.
Anyway, words matter when it comes to what footballers are putting out there for the public to see, and there were few messages more touching than the one from Hugo Ekitike's account when the now Liverpool forward left Eintracht Frankfurt this summer.
It feels harsh to edit it down, and so here it is in its entirety bar the odd emoji or two and the image of him sitting next to Frankfurt's rather imposing badge. Take it away, Hugo:
"It’s crazy how quickly time flies but leaves us indelible traces and memories. I haven’t forgotten anything since my first day among you.
"The truth is its here that I learned love - true love, first the love of the most incredible fans ever (thank you for your love your warmth and your support, thank you for celebrated me as one of yours every time, I never felt like a stranger among you) then the love of the entire club from top to bottom, you have each been at one time a shoulder or an ear for me, I grew up with you, and I owe you for continuing to be what I have become among you and hold your values high...
"We never really leave those we love, even far from Deutsche Bank Park, I will fulfill my new role, being the first supporter of this club that I love. To my Coach Dino (Toppmoller), thank you for our discussions and for your knowledge. To my teammates, my brothers, my soldiers, my success is having you by my side this year.
"Wish you guys to win this Champions League (unless you face me) ... Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. For those who love with their heart and soul, there is never goodbyes. I spent the best year of my life with you, you are engraved in me. Forever an eagle."
And that's lovely isn't it? The type of thing which endears a footballer not just to the fans of his old club or the supporters of his new one, but to everyone. He got a nice response from Frankfurt too, who said he was 'always an eagle!' And it explains a thing or two as well.
Ekitike clearly loved his time at Frankfurt, but when the time came to take the step up to a bigger club he was always going to embrace it in the best possible manner, leaving the best possible impression as he did so.
Elsewhere among Liverpool's major summer arrivals, you can't say the same thing. There's Alexander Isak leaving Newcastle United of course, that's a given, while Milos Kerkez irked some Bournemouth fans with the manner of the build-up to his exit from the south coast.
And while Florian Wirtz did leave with the good wishes and pleasant messages of Bayer Leverkusen, elsewhere in Germany it was a less than fond farewell. That has helped create a situation where he feels under the microscope constantly both at home and abroad, and that pressure seems to be weighing on him.
Indeed none of Isak, Wirtz or Kerkez look particularly at home at Liverpool yet, and while there are a multitude of different reasons for that, one of them might well be the way they left their previous clubs or their homelands.
So it perhaps should be no surprise that Ekitike is the one who has settled the quickest then, with the Frenchman looking unburdened and able to express the talent that he, Frankfurt fans and now Liverpool supporters know he has.
Arne Slot should turn to him from the start at Deutsche Bank Park on Wednesday night, and if he does there will be waves and smiles to the crowd, but there will also be a determination to inflict Champions League damage upon them, despite what he wished them in his message.
As well as a confidence that he is good enough to do just that from everyone inside the stadium.
Content Image
Content Image