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Hugo Ekitike said "I could do better" — despite scoring in both of his appearances for new club Liverpool so far.
The France international opened the scoring in last weekend's Community Shield meeting with Crystal Palace, before scoring and assisting in Liverpool's 4-2 victory over Bournemouth on Friday.
Ekitike's performance against the Cherries earned him the Premier League's player of the match award, but he said that there is still plenty of room for him to improve.
"I think it was a good performance. I could do better," he told Sky Sports. "But the most important thing tonight is the win and the mentality we showed. We wanted to win for the people who came tonight and for Diogo and that's what we did, so I'm happy for everybody.
"I have so many things to do better. I helped the team as much as I could, I can do a lot of things. I think I will get better and do even more for this team."
Explaining the difference between his role for Frankfurt and his role for Liverpool, he added: "I changed my way of playing here, it's different football with more intensity.
"The defenders are stronger and there are tight spaces here. I had so much more space in Germany. That's why I try to come, link and go and run behind. We have to find the way to succeed with the details. It's not good anymore. We just have to get better."
Ekitike was asked by Gary Neville who his soccer idol was when he was growing up, and he answered with two world-class players from the last couple of decades.
"Growing up - there were two players: Neymar and Karim Benzema," Ekitike said. "I love Benzema, what he did for football is my role model."
In both scoring and assisting against Bournemouth, Ekitike became just the second player to register a goal and an assist on his Premier League debut for Liverpool.
After coolly slotting home the opener in the first half, he claimed an assist after the break, as his pass was collected by Cody Gakpo, who did most of the hard work as he placed a neat finish into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.
The only other player in Liverpool's history to claim a goal and an assist on their Premier League debut is Darwin Nunez, who achieved the feat against Fulham at Craven Cottage in 2022.
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