Hugo Ekitike is targeting a remarkable Boxing Day return for Liverpool as the striker’s grueling recovery from an Achilles rupture injury
For Hugo Ekitike, the lowest point didn’t come when he collapsed onto the pitch at the Anfield in April as his right Achilles tendon snapped mid-sprint during Liverpool’s 2-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain. It came in the quiet weeks that followed.
The physical toll of an Achilles rupture is well-documented, but the psychological burden can be just as punishing.
Insiders close to the 23-year-old Frenchman reveal that he has been in “immense pain” over the past two months. To protect his own mental health during the early, static stages of rehabilitation, Ekitike adopted a drastic coping mechanism: he deliberately pretended that football “ceased to exist.”
Yet, behind the wall of silence, a remarkably ambitious recovery plan is taking shape.
A Christmas target
According to reports in L’Equipe, Ekitike has now targeted a return to light training this autumn, with a firm eye on pulling on a Liverpool shirt again on Boxing Day, December 26.
If he achieves it, the timeline would represent an extraordinary turnaround. Initial medical projections in April suggested a lay-off of nine to 12 months, placing his earliest possible return in January 2027. The club were also acutely aware of the cautionary tale of Ekitike’s former PSG teammate, Presnel Kimpembe, who spent two dark years sidelined by the exact same injury.
An eight-and-a-half-month recovery would sit at the absolute absolute floor of medical expectations, but there is tentative optimism filtering out of the AXA Training Centre.
The Celtics connection
A major source of that positivity stems from the theater where Ekitike’s season was surgically repaired. Liverpool enlisted renowned American specialist Dr. Martin O’Malley to serve as a consultant on the operation. O’Malley’s track record includes successfully guiding Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum back to peak NBA performance within 10 months of a similar issue.
Currently, Ekitike’s right leg remains strictly immobilized, but the forward has been poured into grueling upper-body conditioning sessions.
France national team manager Didier Deschamps remains in close contact, having been among the first to offer console.
“The severity of his injury will unfortunately prevent him from finishing the season with Liverpool and participating in the World Cup,” Deschamps said.
The cost of overuse
Ekitike’s injury has inevitably triggered an internal post-mortem regarding his workload. Arriving from Eintracht Frankfurt last summer for a package totaling £69 million rising to £79 million with add-ons the striker became the focal point of Liverpool’s attack.
With Alexander Isak facing his own spells on the sidelines, former manager Arne Slot relied heavily on his No. 22. Ekitike responded brilliantly, finishing his debut Anfield campaign as the club’s top scorer with 17 goals and six assists in 45 appearances. But the fact that the rupture occurred completely off the ball raised immediate red flags over muscle fatigue and overuse.
