It has been eight months since Hugo Ekitiké moved from PSG to Eintracht Frankfurt. The move was intended to fill the hole left by Randal Kolo Muani six months beforehand as well as restart the Frenchman’s career after a poor spell in the capital.
Ekitiké initially joined Frankfurt on loan at the beginning of the year and despite having to build up his match fitness for the first half of his six-month loan at the club, it was enough to convince Frankfurt to activate the €16.5m buy option in his loan. Now the 22-year-old has finally hit his stride and looks like he can finally deliver on the promise that he showed at Reims.
In the first three games of the season, Ekitiké has three goals and two assists, with two goals and an assist in the DFB Pokal first round against Eintracht Braunschweig and a goal and an assist in Frankfurt’s 3-1 win against Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga. In Die Adler’s Bundesliga opener against Borussia Dortmund, Ekitiké again put in a strong performance up front.
Ektike’s progressive carries and shot-creating actions are back up to the levels of his time in the Grand Est, per FBref. The striker is also getting more shots off and is also averaging a better xG. Both of these can be attributed to the fact that he is now the focal point of the attack and does not have to be a backup option to the likes of Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Neymar, which was the case in Paris.
On top of this, Ektike has formed a partnership with Omar Marmoush with the pair being able to get the best out of one another in the opening rounds of the season with the peak of their link-up being seen in the win against Hoffenheim at the weekend.
The pair add a much-needed dynamism to this youthful Frankfurt attack, which at times had been lacking last year due to the restraints by head coach Dino Toppmöller in his first season in charge, but so far it looks like the former assistant to Julian Nagelsmann has taken the handbrake off of the team.
Away from Marmoush and Ekitiké, there is also Farès Chaïbi who brings flair to the team, Can Uzun who will be the next big thing in German football, Igor Matanovic who offers a different striker profile to Ekitiké and Jean Bahoya.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
