Arne Slot has backed Hugo Ekitike to return “stronger” after suffering an Achilles injury.
Ekitike ruptured his Achilles tendon during the first half of Liverpool’s Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield on Tuesday.
The French forward will miss the remainder of the season and the upcoming World Cup as he begins a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, head coach Slot said: “No, he hasn’t been operated [on] yet. Devastating for him.
“Coming to a new club, having so much impact straight away, playing against your former club in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, with so much more to come for him in the summer, your first thoughts are then always with him being out for such a long time, missing out on so many special moments.
“But he’s not the first and will not be the last player that experiences something like this in the start of his career, and there are so many examples of players that came back even stronger. That’s the challenge he has now.
“I’m 100 per cent sure he will be one of those that in 10, 15 years’ time say, ‘Maybe this injury even helped me to become stronger and become even more ready to perform even at a higher level than I did before.'”
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