'The coach's problem': Hugo Ekitike breaks silence on Liverpool signing Alexander Isak | OneFootball

The striker sees his starting berth under immediate threat

Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak

London Standard

Hugo Ekitike has welcomed the arrival of Alexander Isak at Liverpool, insists the challenge of competing for a starting berth is exciting and is only a problem for manager Arne Slot.

Ekitike arrived from Eintracht Frankfurt in July for a fee of around £90million, and has made a fine start to life at the club with three goals in five games.

However, the Premier League champions pushed on with a British record transfer deal for Isak, worth £125m, to send their summer spending close to half a billion pounds.

Ekitike will see his central starting berth immediately under threat by Isak, who was arguably the most impressive striker in England over the past two seasons.

But the France international sees no reason for worry, insisting it is only a problem for his head coach to solve.

"When you play for the best teams, you inevitably expect to be competing with the best players," Ekitike said.

"Isak is a player I used to watch, so seeing him arrive is a pleasure.

"It's going to be tough competition, but I'm going to work hard to be good and perform well so that it's just the coach's problem.”

Liverpool are back in action this weekend at home to Burnley, and Ekitike is expected to keep his place in the line-up. Isak is lacking match fitness after a summer on strike, and was left on the bench for Sweden’s World Cup qualifying game in Slovenia on Friday.

Sweden face Kosovo on Monday evening in their second of two games across the international break.

Isak has 16 goals in 52 games for Sweden since making his debut at age 17.