Hugo Ekitike's Road to Recovery from Achilles Injury

Hugo Ekitike has offered a fresh glimpse into his long road back from a serious Achilles injury, as Liverpool continue to plan without their big-money striker.

The 24-year-old ruptured his Achilles tendon in April, a brutal end to a debut season at Anfield that had promised so much. Signed from Eintracht Frankfurt 12 months ago in a deal worth up to £79million, Ekitike had hit 17 goals before his campaign was abruptly cut short.

Clairefontaine grind for Liverpool’s No 9

His comeback is now being built far from Merseyside. Centre Medical de Clairefontaine – the renowned facility used by France’s men’s and women’s national teams – posted several photos of Ekitike deep in rehabilitation work, showing the forward stepping up his recovery programme.

The post, shared and liked by Ekitike on his Instagram story, carried a pointed message about the different sides of the famous base: "At Clairefontaine, there is the Chateau for national team call-ups... and the Medical Centre for their rehabilitation. Thank you to our Bleus* and Bleues for their trust."

For now, Ekitike belongs to the second group. The surgery on his Achilles has been described as successful, and he is firmly into the grafting stage, rebuilding strength and mobility as he targets a return to first-team football in the coming months.

Iraola’s blunt timeline

Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola has not sugar-coated the situation. Speaking in pre-season, he made it clear that Ekitike still faces a long spell out, grouping him with two other long-term absentees.

"In terms of order, I think the closest one to returning is [Giovanni] Leoni. After will be Conor [Bradley] and Hugo [Ekitike], but especially the last two are still way off. We are talking about months and still a lot of time out," Iraola said in July.

Leoni has been sidelined since suffering an ACL injury on his debut last September. Bradley, meanwhile, has been out since a knee injury in January. All three represent significant pieces of Liverpool’s future, all three are stuck in the same waiting game.

Ekitike’s latest update doesn’t change that reality. But it does underline one thing: the hard work is well underway, and Liverpool’s £79million striker is already fighting to make sure that when he does return, he picks up exactly where that promising first season was so cruelly halted.