‘He may have a role to play’ – France manager Didier Deschamps on calling up Liverpool’s Hugo Ekitike | OneFootball

France national team manager Didier Deschamps has called up Liverpool centre-forward Hugo Ekitike (23) for Les Bleus’ start to the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. France have been drawn in Group D and they will face Ukraine in Poland on Friday before hosting Iceland at Paris’ Parc des Princes on Tuesday, September 9. Initially, despite Ekitike’s red-hot form with the Premier League champions, Deschamps omitted him from his 23-man squad.

But Rayan Cherki’s serious quadriceps injury, which is expected to keep him out of action for the next two months, has created an opening for Ekitike. The Liverpool striker earned a recall on Sunday, and Deschamps lifted the lid on the reasons that led to his selection. “With Cherki’s injury, even if he’s not playing in the same position, the goal is to have as many attacking options as possible”, Deschamps said in his presser. “If he’s there, he’s supposed to be used even if we don’t know how the two games will go. I’ve already talked about Hugo because of his very good season last year. Now, he’s changed clubs, and things have started pretty well.”

Ekitike has hit the ground running on the back of his €80m move from Eintracht Frankfurt. The Frenchman scored three goals already for Arne Slot’s Reds, who are used to playing in the 4-2-3-1 build that Deschamps favours. “He’s going to discover the French team and, like the other 22 players, he may have a role to play.”

GFFN | Bastien Cheval