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Hugo Ekitike has reflected on "the hardest time of my life," speaking about how he struggled during lockdown when he was playing for Danish club Vejle Boldklub.
When he was still a Rennes player, Ekitike was sent to Vejle Boldkub for the second half of the 2020-21 season, which coincided with one of the lockdown periods during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In an interview with Liverpool's media team, Ekitike recalled how he encountered loneliness during that period of his life — but said that he does not regret the move to Denmark, and implored other young players to put themselves in uncomfortable positions for the good of their careers.
“When I was in Denmark, probably the hardest time of my life," Ekitike said. "I was in a different country, COVID time. I was alone. Just learning life, it was not even about football, it was about learning life, being able to live with yourself.
“If I have one advice to give, it’s like when you think it’s crazy to do something, do it."
A year on from his loan move to Vejle Boldklub, Ekitike was joining Paris Saint-Germain on loan, before joining the French giant permanently in 2023.
While that move to PSG did not work out, it gave Ekitike a taste of playing for a big club and set him up nicely for a move to an even bigger club – via Frankfurt – when he joined Liverpool this summer.
After kicking off his Liverpool career with 10 goals in all competitions, Ekitike said he is enjoying himself at Anfield: "If you don't have pressure, if people don't care, that means you're not at the right place. I'm at the right place.
"I know what people expect. I have my expectations too. I'm just working on being as good as people expect me to be and I know I'm in a place I was dreaming to be.
"I've been to so [many] places and you always have something to reach. I think that's what football is. I always think that football makes you tired physically but mentally, if you want to get to the top and do and achieve things, it's always about [going] again and again and again.
"Because if tomorrow I score a brace and I say, 'I'm really good', it stops. Obviously I want to be the best – that's why I'm playing. But I know I have so much work, so [many] things to improve. But, of course, I want to be the best."
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