Hugo Ekitike has become the latest big-money Liverpool signing this summer, as Arne Slot prepares his Reds side for a Premier League title defence.
Joining from Eintracht Frankfurt in a deal worth £79m, £69m guaranteed and £10m in add-ons, Ekitike was the subject of interest from Manchester United and Newcastle United but chose to head to Anfield.
The Frenchman, formerly of Paris Saint-Germain, enjoyed his best season in front of goal in 2024/25, netting 22 times in all competitions for his former employers.
Games
64
Goals
26
Assists
14
Minutes played
4,416
Liverpool are also getting a striker who has also been compared to Kylian Mbappe and Neymar by former Netherlands midfielder Wesley Sneijder.
“I might say something really crazy, but I’ll say it anyway: I think he’s a mix between Neymar and [Kylian] Mbappe. I sincerely think so.
“He has the grace of Neymar, but also the movements of Mbappe. To suddenly accelerate, that’s something that Mbappe also has. And he’s only 22 years old. There’s really a lot of potential in this boy.”
Grok, the AI tool on X, has now predicted how Ekitike will perform in his first Premier League season for Liverpool.
AI predicts how many goals Hugo Ekitike will score for Liverpool in 2025/26
Some may be wondering how Ekitike will fit in under Slot and his style of play. Well, Grok states that ‘Ekitike is a versatile, modern No. 9 who can drop deep like Roberto Firmino, run channels like Alexander Isak, or play in a strike partnership’.
It is added that Ekitike’s ‘ability to create and lead pressing suits Slot’s system, which balances possession and counter-attacking transitions’. In front of goal, Ekitike has been backed to record a similar amount of league goals for the Reds as he did for Frankfurt.
Grok feels the forward will score ’14 goals in the 2025/26 Premier League season for Liverpool, which accounts for his high shot volume, Liverpool’s chance creation, and an expected improvement under Slot’s guidance’.
There is the ‘potential for up to 20 goals if he adapts quickly and improves his conversion rate’, which would surely be seen as a big success if he manages to hit that feat.
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It is not only goals that Ekitike will bring. Last season, the forward registered eight assists for Frankfurt in the Bundesliga. Grok says that Ekitike is projected to register 10 assists for his Reds teammates, ‘enhancing his overall impact’ on Merseyside.
Goals
14
Assists
10
