Hugo Ekitike said it is a “good question” of how Liverpool use him and Alexander Isak after spending £200m on new strikers this summer but has insisted they can play together.
Ekitike joined from Eintracht Frankfurt for an initial £69m and Isak followed from Newcastle for a British record £125m but the pair are yet to be on the pitch together – in part because the Swede lacked match fitness after his arrival was delayed until deadline day while the Frenchman was suspended for Saturday’s defeat to Crystal Palace.
Manager Arne Slot has preferred to operate with one striker, flanked by two wingers, but Ekitike formed a prolific partnership with Omar Marmoush at Frankfurt in the first half of last season.
Ekitike scored in his first three games for Liverpool, all before Isak signed, but said he welcomed the competition from the newer signing even as he wondered how they will both be accommodated.
“Good question,” he said. “It is good, you know? We play in such a big club. I can’t see any big clubs playing with just one striker in the squad. It is good that Alex is here. For me, at my age, I have a lot of things to improve and learn.
“It is good that he is here. It is for the coach to decide how we want to play. I have been playing in a two-striker composition, one striker, I can do a lot of things. If we have to play together, I can do that.”
Ekitike could return to action against Galatasaray on Tuesday to make his first appearance since he was sent off against Southampton last week, when his first booking was for dissent and his second for taking his shirt off.
He has vowed there will be no repeat of a dismissal Slot had called “needless” and “stupid”.
“That was not smart,” he added. “Obviously, I punished myself a lot. I felt disappointed to watch the boys from home on Saturday. As I said, I apologise to everybody, to my team-mates. It won’t happen again. I just move on now, I am looking forward.”
Slot said Ekitike and Isak were his two top choices in the summer and explained he wanted to get both after the tragic loss of Diogo Jota.
“Because of an enormous tragedy with Diogo Jota, in the end we had to bring in two No 9s,” he said. “We always thought we’d replace Darwin Nunez with one No 9, but we had to bring in two.
“We have always looked for very good players but it was always clear to us that from the start we wanted these two [Isak and Ekitike] if we needed two.”
