Hugo Ekitike has shared an update on his recovery from injury as Liverpool wait for the striker to return to action. The France international has been on the sidelines after suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon back in April, which is expected to keep him unavailable for several months.
Recovery progress at Clairefontaine
Liverpool signed Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt 12 months ago in a deal worth up to £79million, and the striker went on to score 17 goals before his debut season at Anfield ended early due to injury. Since the injury, Ekitike has been stepping up his recovery, which included successful surgery, and is now on the path to a return to first-team action.
Months later, the 24-year-old is continuing his recovery and has provided an update as he steps up his preparations for a return to the pitch. Centre Medical de Clairefontaine, a fitness centre for France's men's and women's national teams, posted several photos of Ekitike working on his recovery.
Manager's pre-season comments
Ekitike shared the post on his Instagram story and liked the post, which read: "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."
Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola has only provided an update on Ekitike's recovery during pre-season, where he made it clear that the striker still faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines. He said back in July: "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."
Other injury concerns at Liverpool
As is the case with Ekitike, Liverpool are also without Giovanni Leoni and Conor Bradley due to long-term injuries. Leoni has been unavailable since suffering an ACL injury on his debut last September, while Bradley also suffered a knee injury back in January.
Liverpool have already been forced to deal with several injury concerns during the opening weeks of the new season, with Joe Gomez and Federico Chiesa both on the sidelines and did not feature in either of the draws with Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
