Huge boost for Liverpool as £105m duo near returns after lengthy injury absences
Hugo Ekitike is targeting a return to action with Liverpool as early as December, and while Andoni Iraola is treading carefully over the Frenchman’s recovery from a serious Achilles injury, the Reds boss should also soon be boosted by another long-term injury victim’s return to full fitness.
It’s been a positive start for Liverpool under the guidance of their new boss, Iraola, with the Reds not suffering a defeat yet in his seven matches at the helm.
Taking on a star-studded squad from Arne Slot, who was sacked for failing to get the best out of his expensively assembled team, the Spanish tactician will hope to take Liverpool deep into the Champions League while, at the very least, sustaining their place in the top four of the Premier League.
While the Reds were woefully off colour last season under Slot, there were some mitigating circumstances; not least a failure to get record signing Alexander Isak anywhere near full match sharpness and with the £79m signing from Eintracht Frankfurt, Ekitike, also suffering a painful ruptured Achilles injury, which has sidelined him since April.
While the prognosis suggested an estimated nine-month lay-off for the 24-year-old, the player has recently been spotted back on the training pitch, and a trip to see a specialist in America has now yielded more positive results.
And now, according to L’Equipe journalists Hugo Delom and Loic Tanzi, a pre-Christmas return could be on the cards for the striker.
“Ekitike is diligently working on his comeback. The Liverpool forward hopes to return to competitive action in December,” they stated.
Ekitike spent most of September working with French doctors and coaches at France’s famed Clairefontaine coaching campus, before returning to Merseyside recently.
Before reporting back for duty at Kirkby, L’Equipe explained: “In recent days, Ekitike travelled to the United States, notably to consult a specialist.
“The forward is on schedule with his recovery and is able to jog,” before noting that a return to first-team training is on target for November and a first-team return by December.
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Iraola cautious over Ekitike as Leoni also nears Liverpool return
Despite that good news, Iraola was refusing to rush the player when questioned about his rehabilitation a couple of weeks ago.
“It’s difficult, with these long-term injuries. It’s still far,” he said in response to Ekitike’s possible return.
“We had a meeting with all the medical departments when we completed the list for the European games, and there is a reasonable chance that he could help us in the last two games of the group stages.
“But it’s still very early to say. It’s very early to say because it’s a long-term injury. A big part of the recovery is still to be met.
“But if we decided to put him there, it’s because there is a hope and there is a realistic chance that he could help us in January, yes.”
Meanwhile, another long-term Liverpool injury victim, Giovanni Leoni, is also edging closer to his return.
The £26m signing from Parma in summer 2025 has only made one competitive appearance for the Reds before succumbing to a brutal ACL tear – one of the worst injuries a footballer can pick up.
Having now been sidelined for over a year – a stretch that has seen him miss a staggering 56 games for Liverpool – there is finally ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ for the Italian defender.
According to Tuttomercatoweb, the 19-year-old can soon return to first-team training and is now looking to the future with optimism again after his injury nightmare.
Understandably, Liverpool continue to tread with caution, especially given Iraola is well covered in the centre of defence thanks to the excellent form of Jeremy Jacquet alongside Virgil van Dijk, and with Ronald Araujo also able to cover, despite the latter’s tendency to operate at right-back in recent weeks.
Nonetheless, he could also soon step up his recovery and could make the first-team squad before the month is out if all goes to plan.
Liverpool are also hopeful that Isak will be fit to start the club’s next game, a clash with Manchester City at Anfield next Sunday, after the striker was sent home from Sweden’s Nations League squad, and with a double injury having sent Iraola into panic mode.
In other news, Liverpool have also reportedly reached a decision on whether to offer Alexis Mac Allister a new contract after the Argentine recently expressed his sadness that a new deal had not been presented before him.
