Good news as Liverpool striker returns from injury

These are testing times for Liverpool’s striking department.

Hugo Ekitike was for so long this season the chief goalscoring threat - netting 17 strikes in his maiden Reds’ campaign.

But the Frenchman suffered the cruellest injury blow last week - rupturing his achilles against Paris Saint-Germain and he could be sidelined for up to a year.

It means the only senior striker currently available to Arne Slot is £125m Alexander Isak. But the Swede is woefully off the pace - registering only nine touches across his latest outing in the Merseyside derby versus Everton.

It would be no surprise to see Liverpool go back into the market for a No9 this summer - given the scale of their plight in that area. For the rest of the season however they will need to muddle through with what they’ve got.

Keyrol Figueroa is back

There has been some welcome news on the injury front with the reappearance of Keyrol Figueroa for the under-21s.

Figueroa, 19, had been out of action since early February but marked his return to action with TWO goals in a 6-0 friendly win against the i2i Football Academy on Saturday.

Figueroa, who is at the centre of an international tug-of-war between the United States and Honduras - was introduced as a half-time substitute for Rob Page’s side.

He took only five minutes to score - adding a second in the final 10 minutes having replaced another striking sensation in Will Wright - who also hit a double.

Liverpool only named eight substitutes - including two goalkeepers - for the Premier League game against Everton on Sunday.

Figueroa set to leave this summer

If Arne Slot is looking for any striking back-up for the closing stages of the season then he could do a lot worse than look at Figueroa - a natural born goalscorer.

The sharpshooter’s time on Merseyside is likely to be running out soon however as his contract expires in 2026.

Having recently taken up residency with Federico Pastorello’s P&P Sport Management agency it looks likely that Figueroa will be moving on for first-team football elsewhere.

Porto and PSV are among the teams to have had a look at the forward - who failed to secure a loan move in the January transfer window amid talk of a new Liverpool contract.

The deal remains unsigned and it looks like Figueroa is entering his final weeks as a Red having signed as a schoolboy. Maybe he can go out with a bang with a cameo in the first team as an Isak replacement.

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