Liverpool\u2019s new forward has settled quicker than many expected after his summer move from Eintracht Frankfurt. The Reims academy graduate arrived at Anfield in July in a deal that could rise to \u20ac92.5 million (\u00a381.4 million, $106.9 million) and has already produced six goals across all competitions while avoiding major mistakes apart from some over-exuberant celebrations.<\/p>\n
His path to Merseyside passed through Paris Saint-Germain, where a loan and then a permanent move costing \u20ac28.5 million followed a prolific season at Reims. At PSG the forward managed 14 starts across 18 months and scored four goals. He spent more minutes alongside Danilo Pereira than with Messi, Neymar or Mbapp\u00e9, but training and proximity to that front line left a clear impression on him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely took stuff from their game,\u201d Ekitik\u00e9 told The Guardian this week. \u201cI try to take things from the players I love. I like to watch and try to add to my game to make me more complete.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked about specifics, he outlined what he borrowed from each player: \u201cMaybe like [Messi\u2019s] vision. Sometimes I try to see things earlier, before I receive the ball. [From] Neymar I took some tricks and skills, ball control. I took the runs of Kylian\u2014he could do great runs without the ball. So many things, it is difficult to list.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ekitik\u00e9 has maintained his international link with Mbapp\u00e9 and was candid about the differences: \u201cHe [Mbapp\u00e9] is quicker than me. I am fast, but he is one of the fastest in the world. I hope one day I get there but we are a different type of player. He has a lot of speed, I am more like a player who is able to do things for the team.\u201d He added of Mbapp\u00e9: \u201cHe saw me in a bad position at PSG so he is happy for me that now things are working out,\u201d Ekitik\u00e9 said of Mbapp\u00e9. \u201cHe has been like a big brother to me. I was just not playing\u2014it was difficult at the end. He was always good to me, always gave me advice.\u201d<\/p>\n
At club level he has forged a strong relationship with manager Arne Slot despite an unwise red card against Southampton earlier this season. \u201cObviously keep my shirt on,\u201d was Ekitik\u00e9\u2019s witty response to the question of what advice Slot has offered him. \u201cI would say he\u2019s on my back, but not for a bad thing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From PSG training ground lessons to Anfield impact, Ekitik\u00e9 has adapted quickly and scored six. more<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4347,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175,1125,1163],"tags":[1081,299,1215],"class_list":["post-4348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-liverpool","category-strikers","category-transfers","tag-adaptation","tag-arne-slot","tag-controversy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}