Hugo Ekitike's beginnings were far from dreamed of. Some comments have even already expressed some doubts about the integration and level of the 21-year-old striker at Eintracht Frankfurt, where he is on loan with a purchase option of €20 million from PSG. The problem is also physical. Before joining Germany, he had not played a minute in official competition since August 12. An eternity. Since then, he has taken part in 10 matches in all competitions (317 minutes) for a small assist.
To make matters worse, he suffered in recent days from a small problem in his adductor but should hold his place well this weekend to face Stuttgart. However, despite a somewhat complicated start, the German club is definitely determined to exercise this purchase option, which suits the Parisian management well. This is already a file to settle for this summer and money to come in. The sporting director, Markus Krösche, even confirmed this to Bildwho asked him if the Frenchman was worth €20 million? “Yes and I don’t have a stomach ache.”implying that it didn't make him sick to say it.
Krosche: “Hugo has certain skills that cannot be taught”
Faced with doubters, Krösche believes on the contrary that it is a very good move. According to him, Ekitike is a player of the future whose potential is just waiting for one thing: to explode at the highest level. “Hugo has certain skills that cannot be taught. He is incredibly professional, focused and ambitious. As a person, he is sociable, humble and fits well into the group. These are conditions that are crucial. You don’t make transfer decisions based on short-term performance, the first five or six weeks.”
On top of that, Ekitike was propelled faster than expected with the long injury of Sasa Kalajdzic, another winter recruit. “We try to always make decisions with the greatest care and maximum information, whether it is 50,000 or 15 million eurosassures the sports director, recognizing that risk 0 does not exist. In football you can get 80% through monitoring, analysis, conversations, personality assessment and intelligence gathering. But there remains 20% human factor. You can never be sure.” This should not necessarily reassure Frankfurt supporters.
