Liverpool s second most valuable counterattack new sharp knife? How will Ekitic improve the quality of the forward line

Recently, Liverpool signed Ekitic with the second highest transfer fee in the team's history. So what can this French attacker bring to the Reds? The Athletic sat Andy Jones and made the analysis.

While trying to introduce Isaac, Liverpool's forward strengthening plan made another major breakthrough, and they signed Frankfurt striker Ekitic for 95 million euros.

Ekitic is tall, fast and skilled. As a young forward, he is similar to Isaac, and is also a propulsive ball holder with a keen sense of front-end smell. But it is worth noting that Ekitic, who has an age advantage, has not proved himself in the Premier League yet. Therefore, the "guarantee" that Liverpool gets to sign him will not be as full as signing Isaac.

However, Ekitic meets the type of player Liverpool is looking for: a player who is not yet in the golden age but has rich first-team experience and has huge room for development. From childhood Reims, to Paris Saint-Germain, to joining Frankfurt last winter window, Ekitic's potential is obvious. In the 24/25 season, he ushered in an explosive period, making 48 appearances in various competitions, scoring 22 goals and sending 12 assists.

So, when Ekitic joined Liverpool at the peak of his career, he naturally expected that he would continue his outstanding performance in Frankfurt to Anfield.

So, what exactly can Ekitic bring to Liverpool? How will he integrate into Liverpool's offensive end?

Intuitive impressions and statistics show that Ekitic is a double threat.

He is an elegant dribble player who performs well in open spaces, creates opportunities for his teammates, and knows how to hit the penalty area at the right time. Among the top five European leagues last season, there were only four players with higher expected goals and expected assists than Ekitic (26.0) in non-penalties: Liverpool's Salah (32.4), Barcelona's Rafinia (30.3) and Lewandowski (26.3), and Real Madrid's Mbappe (26.3).

Although the French youth international missed the U21 European Cup this summer due to a back injury, his performance in using outstanding speed and smart running to the scoring position on the field can always leave a deep impression.

As shown in the goal of the Europa League victory against Czech team Bilson in September last year: he first got rid of two defensive players, then cooperated with Rasmus Christensen to hit the wall, and then rushed into the penalty area to complete the end.

His goal position distribution chart this season can well show his sense of smell in front of the goal - he scored 8 goals in the opponent's penalty area.

He doesn't always have a clean and clean shot. His skill and instinctive shooting will be tested in a Liverpool team that often faces intensive defense. Ekitic's expected non-penalty goals in the Bundesliga (19.3) - the second only to Dortmund's Gilasi (19.6) among Bundesliga players - is 5.3 lower than his actual goals, the largest difference among all players in the league.

Authentic, he always finds the right shot position. According to Fbref, he averaged 4 shots every 90 minutes in the Bundesliga field; among Bundesliga players who have played more than 34 league games, only former teammate Malmush, who transferred to Manchester City in the winter window, is higher than him. But the problem is his shooting accuracy: only 1.5 shots per 90 minutes.

After Liverpool lost to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League in March this year, Slott expressed his admiration for the frontcourt trident under Luis Enrique. Interestingly, the closest comparison with Ekitic in the past year is Ottoman Dembele, who is nominally a mid-lane player of the Paris Saint-Germain Trident, but has contributed far more to the team than to score goals.

Although Slott's more control-oriented and ball-based tactical play is the characteristic of his coaching team winning the league championship in his first season, Liverpool is also good at using counterattacks to create threats. Among the four top leagues in Europe, only Ekitic is located in Frankfurt's expected fast break goal value, which is higher than that of Liverpool.

As the core of the team's offensive, Ekitic either completes the ending himself or creates opportunities for his teammates. Compared to his new teammate at Liverpool, only Salah (10) has scored more goals (goals + assists) than his six.

The next example happens in the Europa League, not the Bundesliga, but his goal in the away game against Tottenham in April gives us a glimpse of the trouble Ekitic might have for England’s opponents: he dribbled the ball after a ball transfer, then scored a goal from the edge of the penalty area.

In Frankfurt away match against Borussia Mönchengladbach a few months ago, Ekitic scored in his half, drifted past a defensive player and scored.

He was free to control when dribbled, which allowed him to outperform the defenders through physical fake moves or skillful skills - just like this time when he passed the crotch in the UEFA Champions League quarter-16 against Ajax in March, and then scored a powerful shot. Both attacks highlighted his ability to carry the ball. He moves quickly and gracefully as he drips the ball under his feet.

During a three-season Liverpool career expected to end in this transfer window, Nunes often showed the same threat - being able to push the ball into the last third of the opponent's stadium, but lacked in his ability when he needed a last pass or a last kick.

Ekitic is good at utilizing space in offense and defense conversions, and cruising between front trident positions to receive the ball, bringing liquidity to the front line. As his ball-holding propulsion chart in the Bundesliga last season:

Among the top five European leagues, only three players have more than 44 shots after pushing with the ball in the 24/25 season - Yamal of Barcelona (56), Mbappe (50) and Greenwood of Marseille (45).

Ekitic's powerful run opened up space for his teammates; as shown in this attack in April against RB Leipzig in home games, he passed the ball to Knauf in the offense and defense transition.

Although goals are a basic requirement, Slot's requirements for his No. 9 player are much more than that. Louis Diaz became his top pick in this position last season, and the Colombian player’s ability to support and participate in creating opportunities for two wide attackers Salah and Garkepo is invaluable.

Ekitic is 190 cm tall. Although he is thin, he has solid air control ability. He will provide Liverpool with the ability to pass directly to him, allowing other players (such as Wiltz) to participate more smoothly in the offense. When he was against Heidenheim at home in April, he headed Gotze with a header and launched an attack that finally made him easily push the ball to score.

His speed is crucial because it allows him to participate in the offense and complete the end. As shown in the above goal and against Dortmund in January: he retreated to the space to cooperate with Christensen in a wall, and then rushed into the penalty area to complete his teammate's low cross.

You can also pass the ball to his feet and then he can deliver a quality pass like the assists he gave to Ebimbe in this victory against Bilson. Last season, Ekitic, who was 22 years old at the time, was the only center in the five major European leagues who brought the ball into the opponent's penalty area for more than 50 times and touched the ball more than 200 times in the penalty area. His technical ability is reflected in the clever series cooperation inside and outside the penalty area. Ekitic's expected assists of 6.8 last season ranked ninth among Bundesliga players (just 0.2 below Werz) his vision and passes were impressive. There were many examples of this performance in that season, including the perfect pass to Bahoya after patiently controlling the ball against Ajax...

... and the goal given to Larson during last August against Hoffenheim was also impressive.

Salah, Werz, Garkepo and Diaz will all benefit from this clever tandem cooperation, an idea that should make fans look forward to it.

He also has talent. Liverpool fans are used to seeing Salah use a cross from the outside of his feet to assist his teammates, and Ekitic also masters this technique. This gave Shaybi an opportunity to score easily when he played against Brunswick, the German Cup at the beginning of last season: the No. 9 role in the Slot system not only requires goal contribution, but also unremitting work investment. Frankfurt was not a team that supported continued high-level oppression last season, but Ekitic took on the responsibility of leading oppression when they did put pressure on their opponents - he did a very effective job in this regard.

According to Opta's data, among Bundesliga players, Ekitic ranked in the top seven in the number of pressures in the opponent's half-time and offensive three-zone pressures. His high-intensity offensive 15.3 shots per 90 minutes are the most Frankfurt players, far exceeding the second-ranked Gotze (12.6).

But in any case, signing Ekitic for 95 million euros is a huge risky deal. After all, in the summer of 2022, Liverpool signed a younger, more talented striker (Nuñez, then 21), who scored 26 goals in 28 league games in Benfica, Portugal. But that contract did not develop as planned.

So, after signing Ekitic, Liverpool all yearned for a successful signing this time.