Hugo Ekitike (or Ekitiké; born 20 June 2002) is a French professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. Ekitike began his professional career at 18 with

Stade de Reims Stade de Reims () is a French professional football club based in Reims. The club was formed in 1931 and plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of football in France. Reims plays home matches at the Stade Auguste Delaune. Reims is one of the mo ...

, playing for their reserves team before being called up to the senior squad in 2020. Between 2021 and 2022, Ekitike had loan spells at

Vejle Boldklub Vejle Boldklub is a Danish professional football club based in Vejle in Jutland. Formed in 1891, the club is one of the most successful clubs in Danish football history, having won the Danish championship five times and the Danish cup title six ...

and

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

, winning the

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

title and appearing in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

. His loan became a full transfer in 2023, however he only made one league appearance as a permanent player. Ekitike was sent on loan to

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

in April 2024, joining the club on a permanent basis later that year. During his first full season at Eintracht, Ekitike scored 15 goals in 33 league games, finished 7th-place in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

, and appeared in the 2024–25 Bundesliga Team of the Season. In July 2025,

signed Ekitike for a reported fee of €80 million (£69 million). Ekitike has represented

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

as a youth international player, appearing for the under-20 and under-21 sides.

Early life

Hugo Ekitike was born to a Cameroonian father and a French mother on 20 June 2002 in

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

Marne Marne can refer to: Places France *Marne (river), a tributary of the Seine *Marne (department), a département in northeastern France named after the river * La Marne, a commune in western France *Marne, a legislative constituency (France) Nethe ...

, France. He began his youth career at Cormontreuil FC, a small local football club in Cormontreuil, before joining the academy at

in 2013.

Club career

Reims

On 12 July 2020, Ekitike signed his first professional contract with

. He debuted with the senior team in a 3–1

loss to

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

on 17 October 2020. On 29 January 2021, Ekitike joined

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

club

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

for the rest of the season. On 26 September 2021, Ekitike scored Reims' second and third goals in a 3–1 win against

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

, having come on as a substitute. In the January 2022 transfer window, Ekitike rejected a potential transfer to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

. Reims president Jean-Pierre Caillot admitted that the club had received "very good offers" for Ekitike, but reiterated that "there is still a piece of history to write together".

Paris Saint-Germain

On 16 July 2022,

(PSG) announced the signing of Ekitike on a season-long loan with an option-to-buy for a reported fee of €35 million, bonuses included. According to several sources, the purchase option in the deal was made mandatory. Ekitike made his PSG debut as a substitute in a 5–0 league win away to Clermont on 6 August 2022. On 1 October, he made his first start for the club in a 2–1 league victory over

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Parc des Princes The Parc des Princes (, ) is an all-seater stadium, all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin (P ...

. Ten days later, Ekitike made his

debut, coming on as a late-match substitute in a 1–1 home draw against Benfica. On 13 November, he scored his first goal for Paris Saint-Germain in a 5–0 home win over

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

. He finished the season with four goals and four assists in thirty-two matches, winning his first Ligue 1 title. In June 2023, his transfer to PSG became a permanent deal worth €28.5 million plus €6.5 million in bonuses. In September 2023, it was reported that he was excluded from the Champions League squad for the 2023–24 season.

Eintracht Frankfurt

On 1 February 2024, Ekitike signed for

club

on loan until the end of the season with a buy option. He made his debut as a substitute in a 2–0 defeat away to

FC Köln FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakist ...

two days later. On 19 April, he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 home victory over

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. T ...

. On 26 April, the buy option in Ekitike's loan deal at Eintracht Frankfurt was activated, and he was transferred for a fee of €16.5 million. He signed a deal until the end of the 2028–29 season. The following day, Ekitike scored a goal in 2–1 defeat away to

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

, a right-footed strike from outside the box into the bottom-right corner of the net. On 10 April 2025, Ekitike scored a long range strike in the Europa League quarter-finals first leg against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. By the end of the 2024–25 season, Ekitike scored 15 goals in 33 league games. The club finished in 3rd place in the Bundesliga, securing a spot in the 2025–26 Champions League. At the end of the campaign, Ekitike appeared in the 2024–25 Bundesliga Team of the Season.

Liverpool

On 23 July 2025, Ekitike signed for

club

in a transfer worth up to €95 million (£82.4 million). The transfer includes an €80 million (£69 million) initial payment, and €15 million (£13 million) of performance-related add-ons that, if reached, would present a club-record fee for

, surpassing the €95 million (£82.3 million) paid for

Randal Kolo Muani Randal Kolo Muani (born 5 December 1998) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Juventus, on loan from club Paris Saint-Germain, and the France national team. Kolo Muani began his professional career at Nantes, ...

in 2023. According to ''

The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports journalism department of ''The New York Times''. It provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories ...

'' and ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'',

had also offered €75 million (£70 million) for Ekitike, echoing their approach for the player in 2022, but Ekitike made clear his preference to join Liverpool. Ekitike signed a six-year contract with Liverpool that will expire at the end of the 2030–31 season.

International career

Ekitike was eligible to play for France because of his birth and through his mother and for Cameroon through his father. He is a youth international for France, having represented the France U20s.

Career statistics

Honours

Paris Saint-Germain *

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, 2023–24 France U20 *

Maurice Revello Tournament The Maurice Revello Tournament (officially French: the ''Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello''), previously known as the Toulon Tournament, is a football tournament, which traditionally features invited national teams comp ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Individual *

Team of the Season: 2024–25

References

External links

Profile
at the Eintracht Frankfurt website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ekitike, Hugo 2002 births Living people Footballers from Reims French men's footballers Men's association football forwards Stade de Reims players Vejle Boldklub players Paris Saint-Germain FC players Eintracht Frankfurt players Liverpool F.C. players Championnat National 2 players Ligue 1 players Danish Superliga players Premier League players Bundesliga players France men's youth international footballers France men's under-21 international footballers French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in England French expatriate sportspeople in Denmark French expatriate sportspeople in Germany French expatriate sportspeople in England Black French sportspeople French sportspeople of Cameroonian descent 21st-century French sportsmen