{"id":435990,"date":"2025-09-19T11:55:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T11:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/435990\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T11:55:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T11:55:11","slug":"hugo-ekitike-struck-by-step-up-in-intensity-at-liverpool-i-work-way-more-liverpool-fc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/435990\/","title":{"rendered":"Hugo Ekitike struck by step up in intensity at Liverpool – “I work way more” – Liverpool FC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hugo Ekitike<\/a> has noticed the shift in intensity since his move to Liverpool, with the striker explaining he is working \u201cway more in the gym\u201d than he ever has.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ekitike has started four of Liverpool\u2019s five games this season and has already endeared himself to supporters after early goals in the Community Shield and Premier League<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old arrived after a season-and-a-half in the Bundesliga with Eintracht Frankfurt, and he has quickly recognised the shift in intensity in the Premier League<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe intensity is high here, on the ball and off the ball,\u201d Ekitike told Stan Sport<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cI work way more in the gym than before with the athletic coaches, but in terms of football, I just play my football. I\u2019ve got good players around me, so they make that easy.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u2022 READ:<\/strong> Grealish vs. Liverpool\u2019s right-back key \u2013 Isak to exploit Everton\u2019s lack of pace?<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like in the Premier League<\/a> all the games are top [level]. You play Manchester, you might play Chelsea<\/a> in the next game, then you go to Fulham<\/a>. It\u2019s just big games all the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to be consistent, and have good recovery to be ready for those kinds of games, huge teams you face and you have to be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Frenchman, who has had his fellow countryman Ibrahima Konate<\/a> help him settle in, has yet to play a full 90 minutes and his comments underline the transition Liverpool\u2019s squad is undertaking.<\/p>\n

Of Liverpool\u2019s 10 summer signings, six came from outside the Premier League<\/a> and adjusting to their new teammates and the intensity levels will take time, as Virgil van Dijk<\/a> explained this week.<\/p>\n

\"LIVERPOOL, <\/p>\n

The captain said: \u201cI\u2019m definitely delighted with all the players, the quality that we have brought in. But it takes time, it\u2019s absolutely normal.\u201d <\/p>\n

That Arne Slot<\/a>\u2018s side have won all five of their matches while still needing to find their stride as a new-look team will only offer confidence for what this season could bring once things click. <\/p>\n

As for Ekitike, who now has Alexander Isak<\/a> for competition, he is motivated by giving back to the club\u2019s supporters after their early show of love and support. <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know the fanbase of Liverpool was huge like that, but it\u2019s really good,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like they like me, they show a lot of love and I just want to give back.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hugo Ekitike has noticed the shift in intensity since his move to Liverpool, with the striker explaining he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435991,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[94,5759,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-435990","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-hugo-ekitike","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115230836366000062","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}