Image Credits: Imago Images
Hugo Ekitike’s 2026 has been defined not by goals but by grief.
Two months after suffering one of football’s most dreaded injuries, the Liverpool striker is slowly piecing himself back together.
The 23-year-old ruptured his right Achilles tendon during Liverpool’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield, going down after a slip on the turf in the first half and having to be substituted.
It was a cruel moment in what had been a breakthrough season for the Frenchman.
A £69 million summer signing from Eintracht Frankfurt, Ekitike had scored 17 goals in all competitions before the injury struck.
The damage was immediately obvious.
A source close to Ekitike told ESPN that he heard his Achilles snap before collapsing to the ground in pain.
He was carried off on a stretcher, and scans the following day confirmed the worst.
Early suggestions pointed to between nine and 12 months out, which at the time would have ruled him out until at least January 2027.
The personal cost extended beyond club football.
France coach Didier Deschamps said the injury was a “huge blow” not only for Ekitike but for the national team as well, noting that the striker had “perfectly integrated into the group, both on and off the pitch.”
Ekitike had scored for France in a 2-1 win against Brazil just weeks before the injury, and was expected to feature prominently at the World Cup.
That opportunity is now gone.
The surgery that followed was performed in London, with input from American specialists, including the surgeon who oversaw Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum’s own Achilles procedure.
According to L’Equipe, the past two months have been marked by “immense pain,” with Ekitike largely withdrawing from the stream of supportive messages he receives, as if top-level football had temporarily ceased to exist for him.
He described the injury as “hard, maybe even unfair,” in a message to Liverpool supporters, though he was defiant in his promise to return.
Despite the darkness of that period, the situation is now gradually brightening.
Arne Slot confirmed after surgery that Ekitike had taken an “important step” in his recovery.
Liverpool’s medical team have been providing positive progress reports, with Ekitike currently focused on upper body conditioning so he is not too far behind physically when he is eventually able to bear weight on his foot again.
Deschamps continues to call regularly, as do his France and Liverpool teammates.
L’Equipe reports that Ekitike could soon join up with his France teammates on the East Coast of the United States, where Les Bleus will play their three World Cup group stage matches.
His presence there would mark an important psychological step, keeping him connected to the international fold as he works toward full fitness.
The target is to return to training in the autumn, with a competitive comeback pencilled in for Liverpool’s Boxing Day Premier League fixtures at the end of December.
For a player who had been one of the most exciting forwards in England this season, the wait will be long.
But the direction, at least, is forward.