Liverpool manager Arne Slot has confirmed he has plans to play new signing Hugo Ekitiké alongside another central striker, with the Reds still chasing Newcastle United star Alexander Isak.
After seeing an approach for Isak knocked back earlier this summer, Liverpool secured a deal to sign Ekitiké ahead of the Magpies in a package worth £79 million ($107 million), after which Isak’s desire to leave Newcastle became public.
Liverpool failed with a bid of £110 million to sign Isak soon after and are now considering an improved offer for a player who is not training with Newcastle and is reported to be adamant that he will never represent the club again.
That ongoing desire to sign Isak so soon after the Ekitiké deal was agreed has sparked speculation about Liverpool’s plans for the Frenchman, but Slot has confessed he would be comfortable playing both players together.
Quizzed directly on his vision for Ekitiké amid the ongoing Isak saga, Slot told Sky Sports: “I see Hugo mainly as a No. 9 that could also play from the left or play together with another No. 9.
“It’s clear that with Darwin [Núñez] gone, with Luis Díaz gone, and even last season we had five or six options—Diogo [Jota], I need to mention him as well—we need to have one more attacker at least.”
Improving in attack is a surprisingly important topic for Slot who, while acknowledging his side’s success last season, insisted Liverpool needed another new face, Florian Wirtz, to really take them to the next level.
“I think we created the most chances in the league, scored the most goals in the league, but we mostly won games by one goal difference,” he explained. “We had to keep a clean sheet to have a chance of winning the game.
“With adding Florian, especially in certain games we hope and expect we will create more from the ball possession we have. Adding two full backs that can keep on overlapping, underlapping for 90 minutes, and a No. 9 that is a big threat on runs in behind, this should all add to us hopefully creating even more than we did last season, without losing our stability at the back.”
Liverpool get their Premier League season underway on Friday in the first fixture of the new campaign as Bournemouth make the trip to Anfield.
READ THE LATEST TRANSFER NEWS AND RUMORS FROM WORLD SOCCER
This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘It’s Clear’—Arne Slot Explains Liverpool’s Plan for Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike.
