Hugo Boss. That is the catchline that Hugo Ekitike will follow every time he makes a decisive contribution to the Liverpool season.
And that is probably the problem. Hugo is the boss, but he is also the assistant and also the third command. If the new £ 79 million striker is injured, who else is to lead the line?
The answer is, well, nobody. He is the only senior no. 9 at the club with Darwin Nunez who already completes a switch to Saudi Arabian side Hilal. Luis Diaz, who often led the line last season, also left for Bayern Munich this month.
Everyone at the football club is also still in mourning about the devastating and tragic death of striker Diogo Jota last month. Highly appreciated teen striker Jayden Dans has hardly kicked a ball in the past year because of a disturbing back injury and, realistically, a loan movement needs.
So although Liverpool has earned almost £ 120 million back for the sale of South -American duo Diaz and Nunez, which represents Canny Business, there is absolutely the feeling that the Reds will go into the season at at least one man light in the attacking department.
Captain Virgil van Dijk also said so much and told reporters after the community shield in Wembley: 'We just lost Darwin and we lost Lucho. There is always room for an attacker to strengthen ourselves, so let's see what the window entails. '
Arne Slot hinted along the same lines and said that he decreased Ekitike in the second half because he could not run the risk of being injured for the Big Premier League opener on Friday evening against Bournemouth in Anfield.
It means that the entire attacking department looks somewhat insufficient to go into the season: when Ekitike, Mohamed Salah or Cody Gakpo arise an injury, where are they going?
There are some BS plan, such as Florian Wirtz who plays on the left or Jeremie Frimpong, a more attacking role on the right.
But both are better in the positions they played at Wembley, not in the front three – Plus Conor Bradley is currently injured, so Frimpong is needed in the rear four.
Youth players are waiting in Reserve, 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha, the striking star of the preseason and certainly ready to play a role this season. But given his age, the former Chelsea -child cannot be overwhelmed and must be physically protected with his minutes carefully managed.
So, with three weeks until the transfer window is closed, it feels like Liverpool has to shock back in gear and buy an attacker and a defender to cover Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate.
To be honest for them, this is the plan. From Liverpool it is expected to accelerate their pursuit of a center half and ahead in the coming weeks, but their negotiating position is weakened by the fact that the need to fill the positions is obvious.
The dream signs for the No. 9 is of course Alexander Isak. Much of this is based on whether Newcastle is given on their attitude and in many ways the situation remains this: Liverpool is angry with Isak, the player is angry with them … but will the St James' Park Club sell?
Similar can be said about Crystal Palace Captain and Defender Marc Guehi. Liverpool is admirers of the English international and it is clear that he sees this as the right time to continue from Selhurst Park with two pieces of silverware with the Eagles.
But will they reduce their requirements? Since his contract has risen after this campaign, this is probably Palace's last chance to get a considerable fee for him but Liverpool is poorly prepared to splash the money where the FA Cup winners for questions and waiting for them to lower the prize.
Although Isak would represent one of the transfer coups of the decade, it must be said that Ekitike looks like a jewel of a signing. The £ 79 million men was the brightest star in Liverpool on a day of mixed reviews for the defensive Premier League champions.
The 6ft 3in -Fransman is a big boy and leads the line with a presence that the Reds might miss last year. He can lack and play a nice one-touch football, or he can run on the back with a rapid pace over short distances.
His goal against Palace, although it did not lead to the victory, there was one who excited all fans of Liverpool for what is to come. He played a nice gift-and-go before sending a beautiful finish in the far corner.
“Hugo, Hugo, Hugo!” Was the singing of the traveling head, to the same melody that they used to sang to Nunez. The old king is dead, the king and such a long life.
They are early days and Reds fans know only too well that performances in the long-term community shield mean little meaning-nunez looked like he was twice the player Erling Haaland in the 2022 edition … but see how that ended (124-40 in club goals in the past three seasons).
But the first signs are promising to say the least – not that the performance will have surprised someone at the club.
It is understood that Ekitike defeated everyone on the internal data tests, except Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe for strikers under the age of 23. That is pretty good for the former Eintracht Frankfurt -Man, who can also play on the left wing.
He has settled well in the group and the most pleasant is his all -round game. While Slot Nunez criticized for this aspect of his performances, Ekitike combined with teammates with beautiful films and One-Touch inserts. His link with Florian Wirtz was also on point.
Slot said about Ekitike: 'It is always nice to score a goal, not only for him, but also for Jeremie Frimpong when you start your career at a new club. But it would have been even more fun to win a game, because that is more important than scoring.
'He had a good impact, but is also an example of a player who came to the end of our Asian tour two weeks ago, so for me, with just four days before the Friday game, it would not have been smart to play him for 90 minutes.
'We have Federico (Chiesa), but he did not have been with us during the Asian tour.
“There is not much to replace him with, so if he gets an injury, there would not be much to replace him with Bournemouth, Newcastle and Arsenal, so that's why I eliminated him, but he had a good game.”
So although Ekitike looks like £ 79 million well spent, it still feels like Liverpool has to get the wallet back if they want to go back in the Premier League.