Striker in Richard Hughes' crosshairs after Hugo Ekitike injury

Liverpool have suffered a huge injury blow with the news that Hugo Ekitike ruptured his achilles.

The Frenchman has been a hit throughout his short time at Anfield - scoring 17 goals across his debut season.

He cost £69m from Eintracht Frankfurt last summer and largely carried the Reds’ striking threat all on his own amid the frequent absences of Alexander Isak.

But the 23-year-old is now set to sit on the sidelines for up to 12 months - facing a lengthy and painstaking rehabilitation process.

It’s a personal blow to Ekitike - and also to his club.

Richard Hughes invested a lot of money in Ekitike and the Premier League champions are not currently blessed in the striking department.

Liverpool need a striker

Isak has endured a stop-start season while academy prospects like Jayden Danns, Will Wright and Keyrol Figueroa have also been injured. Long-term it remains to be seen whether any of those three will be able to step up.

And there is also going to be significant disruption in the club’s attack line this summer with Federico Chiesa and more notably Mohamed Salah set to take their leave.

Now it’s being claimed in Football Insider that sporting director Richard Hughes is ready to sanction a deal for a new No9 - just 12 months on from splashing out around £200m on a pair of strikers.

Liverpool are going to sign a striker

“The recruitment team don’t want to be going into next season with just one recognised number nine in Isak, and they won’t really want to take any risks in case anything happens to him, so I’m sure it’s something they will be looking at,” the report reads.

“It’s a big concern for Liverpool and it does definitely affect their transfer plans because the injury to Ekitike does leave them very short up front.”

Focus has usually been on which wingers will come to the club - with Bradley Barcola, Yan Diomande and others named as potential arrivals.

But adding a new striker is now imperative owing to Ekitike’s injury and Isak’s lack of robustness. It will be interesting to see which way Hughes and FSG turn in summer.

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