Liverpool have signed NEW left-winger for £79m

Liverpool have a new left-winger at the club and it was confirmed on Thursday night.

When Luis Diaz left the club in the summer there were a lot of discussions whether Richard Hughes needed to bring in a replacement for the Colombian or not.

It's true that pretty much ever since he took over his role at Anfield, Hughes has been trying to sign a left-winger. In his first summer he made an approach for Anthony Gordon. In January following that failed move there was another attempt to sign Khvicha Kvaratskhelia - again to no avail.

Last summer Hughes targeted the signing of Bradley Barcola, Malick Fofana and Antoine Semenyo.

In the end, Liverpool didn't quite make a move for any of those players. They opted to keep their options open.

But what if Hughes did actually sign a left-winger without knowing?

Over the course of the current international break we've seen something very interesting happening to Hugo Ekitike. The Frenchman who arrived for a potentially combined fee of £79m with add-ons scored his first goal for France's senior side against Ukraine on Thursday night.

Interestingly, Ekitike scored this goal not by playing in his accustomed forward role but by being deployed on the left.

The Liverpool striker came on in the 67th minute to replace Barcola and occupied the left-wing role.

While he often drifted into the middle, Ekitike started out positionally on the left and this is how he scored his goal. He picked up the ball in his own half before going on a marauding run through the Ukraine defender and playing a one-two with Kylian Mbappe inside the box.

It was a terrific run and it gives Arne Slot a 'new' option on the left-wing.

There have been a lot of conversations about how to replace Diaz, and whether Gakpo should play as much as he is playing right now.

Slot has tried to mitigate this by playing Florian Wirtz as a left-winger and having him drift into the middle to form a double 10 formation with Dominik Szoboszlai against Real Madrid.

This worked well. But then the two of them were isolated against Manchester City.

If Slot wants a more like-for-like option then Ekitike may be a better bet.

And after all those attempts to bring in a left-winger, Hughes may have signed one after all, without actually noticing it.

One thing is certain; Ekitike's performance for France gives Slot another option to ponder.

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