Jamie Carragher feels 'sorry' for Ekitike after what he saw vs Bournemouth

(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

It’s fair to say that Hugo Ekitike has made a superb start to life at Liverpool following his summer transfer.

The Frenchman moved to Anfield from Eintracht Frankfurt for a £69m (up front) fee.

Since that point, he’s opened the scoring against both Crystal Palace (Community Shield) and Bournemouth in the Premier League.

Jamie Carragher lauds ‘brilliant’ Hugo Ekitike against Bournemouth

Jamie Carragher was one pundit impressed with Ekitike’s first competitive showing at Anfield on Friday night.

The former Liverpool centre-back hastened to add that the 23-year-old was, of course, far from being the finished product – certainly in comparison to reported transfer target Alexander Isak.

“For me, he’s made a brilliant start,” the pundit spoke on Sky Sports’ coverage.

“He’s not as good as [Alexander] Isak, of course he’s not – he’s four or five years younger than him.

“But I’m sure when Liverpool bought him they thought, ‘This fella can grow into one of the top strikers in world football’.”

"He's made a brilliant start!" Jamie Carragher praises Hugo Ekitike after his player of the match performance in his Premier League debut 👏 pic.twitter.com/T8BbUpq9Y6 — Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 15, 2025

The former Bundesliga hitman was involved in two goals on the night, also supplying the assist for Cody Gakpo’s lead-doubling effort four minutes into the second half.

Should Ekitike be worried about Alexander Isak?

Any out-and-out striker with half a brain should be seriously worried about Alexander Isak.

The Swede is, objectively, one of the leading strikers in world football – arguably in the top three bracket across the globe.

That said, we just can’t envision a world where Liverpool would sign the Newcastle hitman without having a plan in place to protect Ekitike’s development and match minutes.

Cody Gakpo was statistically impressive for Liverpool

Sofascore handed Ekitike an 8/10 rating for his efforts against Andoni Iraola’s men at Anfield.

Whilst no doubt an impressive score, the French footballer was pipped to the title of the statistical leader on the pitch by Cody Gakpo (8.7/10) and Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo (8.7/10).

The Dutch international, admittedly, got an extra half an hour on the pitch and recorded some impressive stats:

→ 1 goal

→ 3 key passes

→ 21/29 passes completed (72%)

→ 1 big chance created

→ 2/7 dribbles completed successfully

→ 6/12 ground duels won

→ 6/11 aerial duels won

→ Possession lost 18 times

→ Fouled three times

We’re not so sure Hugo Ekitike was a million miles away from his fellow Liverpool forward. That said, there’s no question the pair excelled in a game very much defined by the offensive lines.

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