Former Liverpool record signing Stan Collymore speaks exclusively to the ECHO about his former club's big summer transfers
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - JANUARY 12: Hugo Ekitike of Liverpool celebrates scoring a goal with team mate Florian Wirtz during the Emirates FA Cup Third Round match between Liverpool and Barnsley on January 12, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
Hugo Ekitike (right) has made a storming start to life at Liverpool but there are increasing signs that Florian Wirtz (left) is also going to going to justify his huge fee(Image: Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
View Image
Stan Collymore knows a thing or two about the pressures that come with being a big-money Liverpool signings. So the former Reds striker is well placed to run the rule over the trio of major arrivals that landed at Anfield this summer.
And there's one in particular that has most impressed the ex-England international.
Liverpool's transfer window was bookended with the £116million move for Florian Wirtz and the protracted British record £125m capture of Alexander Isak commanding the headlines.
But it was the move for Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt in a deal that could eventually cost Liverpool £79m that has been the most effective so far this season, with 12 goals in 30 appearances with only four Premier League players having scored more in the top flight.
And Collymore, who was a British record signing when snapped up from Nottingham Forest for £8.5m way back in 1995, has explained why he believes Ekitike is only just getting started.
"I wouldn't say he's a bargain or a steal at nearly £80m, but at the moment he's the one that's done the best out of the three big signings in the summer," he said.
"Ekitike is a cracking player and will go on and have a great deal of success. He's an all-round very, very good striker.
"He is very sharp and quick-thinking and that's why he can go on to be a success at Liverpool. If you play the ball into him at various angles where Liverpool have dominated the ball and the other teams have low blocks, he can move the ball off the line quickly or get a shot away.
"When you play the ball into him, he makes it stick. He can play the ball over the top, he has aggressive pace and his finishing in the box is excellent, one or two-touch finishing, he knows where he wants the ball to be before he puts it there."
Ekitike's impact has been in stark contrast to that of Isak, who initially struggled for fitness, then suffered a groin problem and is presently out after a leg fracture suffered before Christmas.
But Collymore has no appetite to write off the Sweden international and suggests Isak and Ekitike could have the makings of a long-term strike partnership.
Speaking to the ECHO on behalf of BetWright, Collymore added: "It would be wrong of me to say he's got everything that Isak has got because Isak has done it in the Premier League and when Isak is purring he's absolutely top class.
"But I don't think there's £30m-£40m worth of difference between them. At some point, and although we are now getting back into the era of long throws and Set-Piece FC and throwing corners and long free-kicks in, is it beyond the realms of possibility that they could play as a two when Isak is fit? I don't think it is.
"Especially nowadays when central defenders mostly only have to play against one central striker.
"They both have the attributes and humility to work quite well together."