There is no failure, only lessons. This is a bit of what Hugo Ekitike has thought since his visit to Paris Saint-Germain. A club where he only stayed only year and a half, including six months in the closet. After the arrival of Luis Enrique, the former Reims player was shown the exit door during the 2023 summer transfer market. Despite the Premier League keys, it was especially in Germany that his profile pleased. The Eintracht Frankfurt, which was about to lose Randal Kolo Muani, leaving for Paris, had tried an approach. The Ile-de-France residents were opened when he left there.
A Renaissance in Frankfurt
But Ekitike finally decided to stay. Result: he spent six months in the hole. A very difficult situation to live for him. When the 2024 winter transfer window arrived, the Frenchman did not hesitate for a second this time this time to take off. And it was in Frankfurt that he spun in the form of a loan. In lack of rhythm and competition, it took him time to get back in shape. He also had to adapt to his new team and another football. But the Eintracht has always believed in him.
During his first half season, he scored 4 goals and delivered 2 assists in 16 appearances in all competitions. Satisfied with him, the German club has lifted his purchase option by spending € 16.5 million. The 22 -year -old, definitively released from PSG, was able to deploy his wings. This season, he already totaled at 18 goals scored and 6 assists in 34 appearances in all competitions. In great shape, Ekitike found a smile on the other side of the Rhine. He is a peaceful young man that The team found this Wednesday.
Doubts at PSG
The opportunity for him to give a long interview in which he returned to a career start where he knew the roller coaster. But he explained to our colleagues that he had no regrets and that it was simply his destiny to live these things to happen where he is today. Aware of his mistakes, the Frenchman, who surrounded himself with a personal staff (3 video analysts and 1 physical trainer) to carry out a necessary shadow work, explained that he had a click during his 6 months of isolation in Paris. It was a real lesson for the attacker, who wanted to prove that he had not been a casting error and that he had the talent to succeed at the highest level, he who had a beautiful people in front of him in Paris.
“As a human being, inevitably, I will tell you yes (he sometimes wondered if he was zero, editor's note). You have to doubt. If you are trying to be tall, doubt, it is still there. Today, when I don't score on one or two matches, doubt exists. So when you don't play for six months, I let you imagine (…) I play football to succeed, not to be an average player. I want to exist. Inevitably, there is pride. When you are in this type of period, the question is: “What are you doing?” I decided to do everything to succeed. Today, I play in a place where I am given responsibilities. ” Ekitike, who also insists on mental work, considers that he did not waste his time in Paris where he learned.
In apprenticeship in the capital
“I always felt that I had the level. But there was a context. I arrive in the last year of Messi and Neymar. Go get them out … you can't. They have to play, they are the best players in the world. You are behind, you try to scratch time. Two minutes, fifteen minutes, two matches on the bench then sixty minutes … There is no lie in football. There is only continuity that makes you become a player who can count. I will never say that I did everything well. I could have done better, it is the truth, but I was not helped for what I do better. I was not given confidence. Even during training, even through discussions … You have never really taken the time to chat with me to help me. I found myself in a situation where I had to manage. Even in match, I had to think about it in my way of getting around so as not to hinder this or that player for the team to work. All this, mixed with a confidence that was not maximum, with different football … It makes a lot of information that made it not worked. But I learned a lot (…) I am a different player because I play. Already 50 matches with Frankfurt. I lost, I won, I scored, I missed: and it actually teaches you. ”
The footballer, who wants to approach perfection but who still has a job according to him, was notably advised by a certain Karim Benzema, with whom he exchanged. Precious and beneficial discussions that helped her advance as a footballer and man. More confident and meticulous in his work, Ekitike has also changed his game in Germany, where he wants to be more killer in front of the goal. And it seems to be succeeding at the moment. But the former player of the Reims stadium always wants more. All this could also lead him to the French team. This is one of its objectives, even if it is aware that the path is still long to be called by Didier Deschamps.
His future and the Blues
“It is the coach who decides. I focus on how to always do more for, why not, get there one day. But we may be the best nation in the world, places are expensive so it must be deserved. I see it like the Grail. The French team represents everything (…) Randal (Kolo Muani) was in the French team when he played Frankfurt. He did it, so why not me? “ But for him, it may go through a departure in a club of a bigger caliber. “I now have experience and I score goals. I am focused on my club, but I know that if I want to take a new course, I will be better prepared than at the time. ”
Especially since there is already a beautiful people ready to welcome him in the future. According to our information, Arsenal, Liverpool and West Ham positioned themselves on him. For its part, Frankfurt will not be closed to a sale. The idea was to let him go in 2026, but if a sufficiently interesting proposal arrives on the office of German leaders this summer, the door will open. Bild Recently revealed that the residents of Bundesliga had set its minimum starting price at € 80 million. They want to make him the next XXL transfer of the club. Times have changed for Hugo Ekitike, who passed from pestifée to Paris Saint-Germain to star player in Frankfurt.
