Ekitike to miss rest of season, World Cup

France manager, Didier Deschamps, has confirmed striker Hugo Ekitike will miss the World Cup after suffering a suspected Achilles injury during Liverpool’s Champions League defeat by Paris St-Germain on Tuesday.

The French forward left the pitch at Anfield on a stretcher, and Liverpool fear a long absence for the 23-year-old, which could also rule him out of the start of next season.

Ekitike went for scans on Wednesday, which are expected to confirm the extent of the damage.

“Hugo suffered a serious injury on Tuesday evening against PSG. The severity of his injury will, unfortunately, prevent him from finishing the season with Liverpool and participating in the World Cup,” confirmed Deschamps in a statement published by the French Football Federation.

“Hugo is one of the dozen young players who have made their debuts with the national team in recent months. He had perfectly integrated into the group, both on the pitch and off it. This injury is a huge blow for him, of course, but also for the France team.

“His disappointment is immense. Hugo will regain his top form, I’m convinced of it. But I wanted to express all my support to him, as well as that of the entire staff. We know he’ll be fully behind the France team, and we’re all thinking of him very strongly.”

Ekitike joined Liverpool from Eintracht Frankfurt last July and has been one of their standout performers in a difficult season for the club, with 17 goals and six assists in all competitions.

Speaking after the quarter-final second-leg loss by PSG, head coach Arne Slot said of his frontman’s injury: “I think we could all see that it didn’t look well and didn’t look good. Let’s wait and see what it will be. But we could all see it didn’t look good.

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“In the second half, he went home, so I haven’t seen him yet. Losing a game is already very hard, especially in the way we lost it, but again, as it seems to be, losing a player is something we’ve had so many times this season.

“It’s especially very hard for him because you never want to be injured, especially not at this moment of time in the season.”

In January, Ekitike became just the second player, after the iconic Kenny Dalglish, to score in five different competitions during their debut campaign with Liverpool.

He made his France debut last September and was set to be part of Deschamps’ squad for this summer’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Liverpool have suffered several setbacks this season, with both teenage centre-back Giovanni Leoni and full-back Conor Bradley ruled out for the rest of the season with injuries.

Keeper Alisson Becker and midfielder Wataru Endo also remain sidelined, while Sweden striker Alexander Isak returned earlier this month from an ankle injury that he suffered in December.

(BBC)