In Frankfurt of other players
© Imago
At the age of 22, Hugo Ekitiké looks back on a moving career. At Stade Reims, the breakthrough only managed to the Vejle BK after a loan to Denmark. Just a year later, the attacker was surprisingly drawn to the top club PSG. In the star ensemble it was not going smoothly for Ekitiké, after a season it was sorted out. At the beginning of 2024, Eintracht Frankfurt offered a way out in the Bundesliga, where he has doubled its market value to 40 million euros since then. His career has so far been “quite turbulent”, Ekitiké now confessed im “L’équipe” interview. “But every place I was at was an enrichment.”
He was also able to take a lot with him on his failed attempt in Paris that the time was “not at all” wasted. “I trained with the best players in the world every day. I would have been the stupidest player who was the stupidest person if I hadn’t learned, ”said Ekitiké, who acted alongside the top stars Kylian Mbappé (26), Neymar (33) and Lionel Messi (37). “You are unique players. Nobody plays and will play like her. I learned a lot by watching you with certain little movements or the game without a ball. ”
In retrospect, the time for switching to PSG was not ideal. “I always had the feeling that I had the level,” said Ekitiké, but last year of Messi and Neymar, coach Christophe Gettier could not make a big change on the offensive. “Go and get them out – you can’t. You have to play, you are the best players in the world, ”said the striker understanding. He tried to get as many minutes of use as possible, but the continuity was missing.
“I will never say that I did everything right. I could have done it better, that’s the truth, but I wasn’t helped to do it better. I was not given confidence. Not even during training, not even through conversations. You never really took the time to speak to me in order to help me, ”said Ekitiké too. “I found myself in a situation in which I was forced to help myself. Even in the game, I had to think about how to move so as not to hinder one or the other player so that the team works. ” All of this, the other style of play and the lack of self -confidence led to “that it didn’t work.”
For PSG, Ekitiké contributed four goals and templates in 33 games. After new coach Luis Enrique no longer built on him in the summer of 2023, but found no way out in the transfer window, the attacker was forced to watch. In this six months it clicked. “It became clear to me that I would do everything I could to show that this change was not a mistake and that I had the talent to get back on my feet again,” said Ekitiké. “I decided to do everything to be successful.” He also learned a lot at PSG during this time.
“There are always things that you do wrong, but that’s human. It is a learning process. I am not a person who regrets a lot. When I’m where I am today, it was my fate. My mistakes were necessary. At PSG, for example, I was sometimes too impatient, although my position was to wait until it was my turn. Because I had the best players in the world in front of me, ”admitted Ekitiké. “Today I know what the ingredients you need to be a successful player: patience, resistance and inconceivable work.” The latter – this includes Ekitiké, for example, working with video analysts, fitness trainers and physiotherapists – he recognized late.
How Ekitiké has changed at Eintracht Frankfurt
The move to Frankfurt turned out to be a stroke of luck for both sides. There are 22 goals after 50 missions. He was able to take the next development steps at Eintracht. “Today I play in a place where I am transferred responsibility,” said Ekitiké. “I am another player because I play. Already 50 games for Frankfurt. I lost, I won, I met, I shot next to it: and that actually teaches you. “
Under coach Dino Toppmöller, who speaks fluent French, Ekitiké has again changed aspects of his game. He is now more a scorer and no longer drops that often. “I found that I can shoot a lot more in the course of the games and thus provide a lot more danger. I want to be more direct and more -oriented. I was told that I sometimes moved away from my position because I took part in the game too much and was not in the areas in which a striker had to be. I corrected that. I try to move less across the entire field. I enjoyed participating a lot in the game, but I also understood that the real joy of shooting gate comes. ”
However, there was no question of perfection, he was still a long way off, said Ekitiké. “I see myself as an interesting player who has improved a lot but has a long way to go.” Even if numerous top clubs are supposed to have him on the piece, Ekitiké emphasized: “I concentrate on my club, but I know that when I want to reach a new level, I will be better prepared than then.” In order to fulfill the dream of the French national team, he does not have to leave the Eintracht. “Randal Kolo Muani was in the French national team when he played in Frankfurt. He did it, so why not me too? “
