Arne Slot aims dig at Liverpool star as he introduces Hugo Ekitike to new team-mates

Hugo Ekitike has joined up with his new team-mates after flying out to Hong Kong for Liverpool’s pre-season tour – and he appeared at ease straight away. Ekitike joined after Liverpool agreed a deal worth a potential £79million with Eintracht Frankfurt.

He has signed a six-year contract with the Reds, who moved quickly to land the France under-21 striker after Frankfurt rejected an offer from Newcastle, while Manchester United also made a late attempt to sign him. Ekitike has followed Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez to the club during a busy transfer window that has seen Liverpool spend £265m on seven signings.

There have been lots of new faces inside the Liverpool squad this summer as they prepare to defend their Premier League title. And the way Arne Slot has tried to make them feel at home was evident in shared by the club on social media.

Ekitike signed for Liverpool on Wednesday before flying straight to Hong Kong on Thursday. He met his new team-mates at an open training session inside the Kai Tak Stadium, with the cameras there to show their interactions.

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After shaking hands with many of them, Slot gathered people around to introduce Ekitike, who he first spoke to at the end of the 2024/25 season.

“As you can see, we have a new player, so we’re hoping he’s the first Frenchman who can score goals for us,” Slot joked while looking around at defender Ibrahima Konate. The other players reacted by shouting “Ibou!”, while the camera showed Mohamed Salah grinning as he said “wow” repeatedly.

After chatting with Konate, Cody Gakpo was seen saying: “Oh, so you’re happy to have another Frenchman, eh!” Keeping Konate happy could be important for Liverpool after the centre-back’s agitation earlier in the summer.

Back in June, reports emerged saying he was ‘disappointed’ by the club’s offer of a new contract. His representatives are pushing for higher wages after bumper new deals were handed out to Salah and Virgil van Dijk.

Konate, whose current deal expires in June 2026, has been linked with Real Madrid, who have developed a reputation for signing players when they become free agents. Liverpool know that all too well, having lost Trent Alexander-Arnold in that fashion this summer, while Kylian Mbappe, Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba all arrived in Madrid that way too.

It seems unlikely that Konate would leave this summer, but Liverpool have been eyeing Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi. Currently, though, all the excitement is over Alexander Isak, after the striker told Newcastle he wants to explore his options in the transfer market.

Liverpool made an enquiry to Newcastle about Isak last week, before signing Ekitike, and it is understood they could afford the Swedish star, even after a busy summer. With Darwin Nunez, Harvey Elliott and Luis Diaz all potentially leaving, there are plenty more deals in the pipeline this summer.

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