The term 'legend' is thrown around in the sports world all the time without an agreed-upon definition. Ask a hundred football fans what criteria a player has to meet to earn legendary status and you'll likely receive a hundred different answers.
I'd argue outstanding statistics are non-negotiable — trophies won, appearances made, goals scored, assists provided, or clean sheets secured. But that's not all, is it?
The greats have an aura. They make strong opponents appear silly or weak. They make big moments seem like no big deal. They make what we all know is difficult look effortless.
These are the characters who often become our favorites, the first players we fall in love with. For me it was Steven Gerrard. For others it was Kenny Dalglish, John Barnes, Robbie Fowler, Virgil van Dijk, Mo Salah.
Like many Reds supporters, I viewed the summer signing of Hugo Ekitike as a nice little add-on to that of Alexander Isak, a proven commodity. Ekitike was the tall, skinny kid from Eintracht Frankfurt who never quite panned out at Paris Saint-Germain but showed plenty of promise. Probably a solid option off the bench. He'd just need some time to acclimate to the Premier League.
Ekitike needed less than four minutes to score the opener in the Community Shield, his Liverpool debut, and he hasn't looked back. He's not only our runaway scoring leader with 15 goals in all comps — he's taken Mo Salah's unofficial position as The Most Dangerous Man on the Field.
Taking advantage of Isak's absence
I could write a hundred posts about the transfer saga that ended with Isak in a Liverpool shirt. As far as Ekitike is concerned, what matters most is that it took all summer for Liverpool and Newcastle to reach an agreement for Isak. Without a proper preseason, Isak had to build his fitness up over the course of several weeks. That made Ekitike the starting striker by default.
He made the most of the opportunity, scoring in three of Liverpool's first five league games as well as the opening Carabao Cup fixture against Southampton (though he was sent off for taking off his top during his celebration).
Even during Liverpool's unfathomable October-November losing run, Ekitike continued to find the net. When Isak became fit enough to start, it was Ekitike, not the highly coveted Swede, who looked like the man worth £125 million. His consistent form and natural chemistry in this Liverpool side became even more crucial when Isak suffered his season-ending injury at Tottenham just before Christmas.
Partnership with Florian Wirtz
Certified Liverpool hater Gary Neville wasted no time branding blockbuster signing Florian Wirtz a "little boy" after Liverpool's 3-0 humiliation at the hands of Manchester City three months ago.
I'm sure G-Nev is in a chipper mood given Michael Carrick's resurgent Manchester United, but I'm hopeful the uptick in Wirtz's form has made him feel at least a little stupid at the same time. Since bagging his first goal for the Reds against Wolves, the "wee fella," as Kenny calls him, has begun to not only dictate games, but directly impact scorelines with goals and assists.
Ekitike is his most natural on-field partner. They work together like John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, Shrek and Donkey. Neither prefers the role of provider over finisher or vice versa, and the better one plays, the better the other is likely to play — hence the fact they've been our two best players for at least a month.
The next El Niño?
I left a name off the list of popular favorites: Fernando Torres. That's because the comparisons between him and Ekitike have become more and more common lately.
Like Torres, Ekitike is an instinctive finisher who can find the net in a number of ways. He possesses the calmness to pass one-on-ones in the corner or dribble past the keeper. He'll make a man miss and curl one in the side netting or go for pure contact and power. As we saw versus Newcastle, he'll shoot early — and he's deadly with the toe poke.
He's athletic like Torres, too, but I'd argue he's even more graceful. He has incredible feet for 6'3" and pulls out deft touches and flicks you associate with number tens, not nines. His ability to carry the ball and cause panic, to do the job of a winger as well as a striker, may be his most valuable asset of all.
Who's to say whether Ekitike will play well enough or stay long enough to go down as an LFC legend. One thing's for sure, though: he was never supposed to be this good. If he hadn't been so far, Liverpool's chances at top four or a cup run would be all but gone.