Liverpool’s Hugo Ekitiké holds ‘no hatred’ towards former club PSG | OneFootball

Despite a rough spell in the French capital, Hugo Ekitiké (23) has no resentment toward Paris Saint-Germain.

The Liverpool striker rarely saw the field during his days with the Ligue 1 side. Ekitiké made a total of 26 appearances for Le Parisiens before moving to Germany, where his career took off at Eintracht Frankfurt. He earned his first senior cap with the national team on Friday in their 2-0 victory over Ukraine in World Cup qualifying. He’ll be back at the home of PSG, the Parc des Princes, on Tuesday when Les Bleus face Iceland.

“There is no hatred for what happened with (Christopher) Galtier or anything that happened with PSG. It was a learning curve and I really progressed as a player and as a person,” he said in a pre-match press conference.

The Frenchman wasn’t originally selected to Didier Deschamps’ squad for this international window, but was called up after Rayan Cherki (22) got injured. During the summer transfer window, Ekitiké came to the Premier League, joining the Reds for a fee of €95m.

He has two goals in three Premier League appearances this season, as Arne Slot’s side are the only ones in the league with a 100% record thus far.

Ekitiké left his hometown club, Stade de Reims, in hopes of advancing his career with Les Parisiens, but instead, he found himself on the bench more often than not when Galtier was at the helm. He netted three times in the top-flight for PSG before moving to the Bundesliga.

He was left off the PSG UEFA Champions League squad for the 2023-24 season, eventually departing for Frankfurt on February 1, 2024. He’d go on to have two splendid seasons for the German side, who finished third in the Bundesliga in the previous campaign, with Ekitiké leading the way, scoring 15 goals.

On Tuesday, he’ll be seeking his first goal and start for the senior squad. He netted five goals in five appearances for the U-21 national team.

GFFN | Joel Lefevre