Liverpool team reporter Bascombe of the Daily Telegraph wrote an article mentioning Liverpool's new aid Ekitic.
Three years ago, when Nunez scored in his debut in Community Shield, he was inevitably compared to his opponent Haaland of the day. Now, Ekitic finds himself being compared with Nunez. No intention to offend the popular Uruguayan, but the "bar" of measuring him is indeed a little lower. Ekitic's start at Wembley was undoubtedly impressive. In just 4 minutes, he changed his shoulders and calmly adjusted to the shooting position, hitting the ball into the bottom corner of the goal.
Ekitic's overall performance is also very encouraging. His running and cooperation show a very high football IQ. Nunes, who joined Riyadh Crescent for £46 million, has never had this despite many pleasing qualities. However, the sample size is too small, and it cannot be ignored that Ekitic wasted two opportunities in the early part of the second half. If it were Nunez, such a performance would have already attracted more criticism. Since then, 23-year-old Ekitic has shown signs of fatigue and has been working with the new club for less than two weeks. But what people will remember is the agile touching moments when he was in his best condition.
The most reassuring thing is that the Liverpool scout report said that Ekitic was Isaac's "football twin" and was strong: similar height, body shape, seemingly lazy but extremely deceptive sprinting power, and smell in front of the goal. This seems to mean that Liverpool has chosen the second best choice without signing Newcastle's high-priced scorer.
This raises another question: After Ekitic debut, will Liverpool still need to chase Isaac at a sky-high price of over £110 million like before? There is still a judgment on this, and the opening few games of the Premier League will undoubtedly give more clues. Coach Slot certainly hopes to get reinforcements as soon as possible. With Nunes leaving the team, Liverpool's No. 9 jersey has become vacant, and it is no secret that they hope to wear it.
Liverpool needs at least one attacker in this window, preferably two. Since the end of last season, the team has sold two attackers and has lost the ball. Salah will play in the African Cup in the middle of the season, and if Egypt performs well, he may miss up to six games. Although there are many rumors that Wilz will play as the left winger, he is obviously signed as the core of the offensive midfield. Young Engumoha is the hope of the future, although he is getting closer to his Premier League debut.
Putting aside Newcastle's reasonable position on Isaac, in Wembley's game, Liverpool seems to need a multi-purpose winger of Louis Dias, who can be competent on the wing and can also play as a center if necessary.
This is a question that Liverpool's scouting department needs to consider, because despite the huge investment in Liverpool, there are still loopholes in the lineup to be filled in order to compete in the fourth-line battle. Ekitic's hopeful debut shows that Liverpool may not have to keep his eyes on St James Park when he embarks on his way to defend his title and finds a goal solution.