Arne Slot says Hugo Ekitike has taken an “important step” after undergoing surgery on an Achilles injury.
The forward ruptured his Achilles during Liverpool FC’s UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg against Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield earlier this month.
Ekitike faces a lengthy spell out and will miss the rest of the season, as well as this summer’s World Cup with France national football team.
Issuing an update on his rehabilitation, Slot told reporters on Friday: “The surgery went well. That’s the first important step that he had to make.
“But I think in such a long rehab process there are so many crucial steps to be made before you can actually say it’s going to take that amount of months or that amount of months. It’s going to take a long time.
“Everybody can know that if you call the first surgeon and ask him how long is this injury going to take, they will tell you multiple months. Then it all depends on how rehab goes. He’s a very explosive player so usually that’s not helpful if you have this injury.
“But maybe he is the exception to that – we don’t know yet. But the first and most important step is that the surgery went well and he can from now on work on his recovery, which is going to take a long time.
“He will be back stronger, as will all the others that have been injured for such a long time. If you look at Giovanni Leoni, I don’t know if you once in a while see some Instagram posts from the club, this guy becomes a beast.”
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Hugo Ekitike undergoes successful surgery to repair his ruptured Achilles