Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitike was taken off on a stretcher in the first half of Tuesday’s Champions League quarter final second leg defeat against Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield.
The France international went down unchallenged shortly before the half-hour mark, and clutched his lower right leg – suggesting he may have suffered an Achilles injury.
Ekitike appeared in some distress and was carried off the pitch by medical staff. He was replaced by Mohamed Salah, who started on the bench against the holders again.
Liverpool lost 2-0, just as they did in the first leg in Paris, and afterwards Arne Slot, their head coach, suggested that Ekitike’s season was over.
“It doesn’t look good,” Slot told a press conference. “It’s difficult for me to say how bad. Tomorrow we will investigate this further. Let’s see.
“This season (before tonight) we have played (summer signings) Alex(ander Isak), Florian (Wirtz) and Hugo together for just 88 minutes. We got another 27 minutes tonight. I will be surprised if there are any more minutes this season.”
Defender Ibrahima Konate told Amazon Prime he feared the worst for his club and international teammate.
“Ekitike, I’m very sad for him and I hope he will come back,” said the centre-half.
“To be fair I think it’s bad. I heard many things. I have no words to talk about that. With the World Cup coming up this summer it’s very hard for him at this moment and I send him my prayers and everything.”
An major injury Ekitike would be a blow to Liverpool’s hopes of a strong finish to the season, with Slot’s side aiming to return to the Champions League next term via a top-five finish in the Premier League after exiting the competition to PSG.
Ekitike’s situation will also be a concern for France. It is 58 days until the World Cup gets under way in the U.S., Canada and Mexico this summer, and Ekitike has recently established himself as a key part of Didier Deschamps’ squad – scoring twice in his first eight international appearances.
‘Players from both sides rushed to comfort him’
By Liverpool correspondent James Pearce at Anfield
It was immediately clear that Hugo Ekitike’s night was over.
There was no-one near Liverpool’s 17-goal top scorer when he went down in agony clutching his right leg shortly before the half-hour mark. The manner in which players from both sides rushed to comfort him underlined the severity of the situation.
Ekitike has proved a big hit at Anfield since arriving from Eintracht Frankfurt in a £79million deal last summer.
His absence will be keenly felt and it’s another body blow for Liverpool in a season packed full of injury setbacks.