It seems that Liverpool and Hugo Ekitike have not got any luck regarding his Achilles tendon rupture.
The injury itself came in the 22nd minute of the 2-0 defeat, Ekitike pulled up sharply without any contact and immediately went to ground in what looked an ominous scene
He was carried off on a stretcher in tears, replaced by Mohamed Salah, as Liverpool went on to lose 2-0 on the night —-crashing out 4-0 on aggregate.
French newspaper L’Equipe reported earlier today that it was a full rupture after some conflicting reports.
It comes after a strong debut campaign for the Reds, hitting 17 goals and six assists across all competitions in his debut season and firmly establishing himself as the focal point of Arne Slot’s attack. His form had also put him firmly in contention for France’s World Cup squad this summer.
But now Fabrizio Romano has added on the bad news, reporting that Liverpool staff expect Hugo Ekitike to only be back in 9 months:
“Hugo Ekitike will miss the World Cup and expected to be out until January 2027,” he wrote on Threads.
“Achilles tendon injury confirmed for Liverpool striker after all tests taking place today, reports from earlier are now official.”
“Liverpool staff expect Hugo to be sidelined for 9 months.”
Slot said of the injury on Tuesday night:
“Let’s wait and see what it will be. But we could all see it didn’t look good. In the second half he went home so I haven’t seen him yet. Losing a game is already very hard, especially in the way we lost it, but again – as it seems to be – losing a player is something we’ve had so many times this season.”
“It’s especially very hard for him because you never want to be injured, especially not at this moment of time in the season.”