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Former Arsenal and Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor has claimed Hugo Ekitike would have thought twice about signing for Liverpool had he known that Alexander Isak was going to arrive a few weeks later.
It is a transfer theory that has circulated a few times in recent weeks, though it doesn't really have much substance. It was no secret that Liverpool wanted to sign Isak, with that pursuit very much public across the summer.
Additionally, Liverpool and Ekitike would have had conversations about where he would fit into the team and what his role would be before the $106 million (£79 million) deal was signed off. The Frenchman agreed to join at the very least knowing Isak following him through the door was a possibility.
"For sure, I think he would have a choice to make," Adebayor said on The Weekend Wrap. "If he knew that Isak was joining definitely, then he would never have joined the club.
"But he’s already here, he’s already at Liverpool doing the job. It’s beautiful. At some point, I can see them having to play with two strikers.
"If you had to choose one, Isak would start in front of him. He has the quality and he knows the league better than Ekitike. But obviously it’s a good signing for Liverpool."
However, as Arne Slot said recently, Liverpool needed to have two quality number nines. Last season, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota all played the position, and the Reds couldn't afford to leave themselves short.
"They can play together, of course they can. They're both exceptional players," former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said about Ekitike and Isak.
"But the manager sees them both as number nines — I think they will split games. One plays 60 minutes, the other 30. I think in certain games he might play Ekitike on the left or as a number 10 but predominantly I see them both as central strikers."
Having options is crucial for teams challening on all fronts and Virgil van Dijk has already outlined a couple of times that the attackers who came in were replacements rather than additions. In terms of numbers, Liverpool now has one fewer senior attacker having gone through last season with six.
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Ekitike is suspended for the trip to Selhurst Park this weekend. He scored against Crystal Palace in the Community Shield but was sent off in the League Cup against Southampton midweek.
Isak could get the nod, as a result, or Liverpool could look to use Florian Wirtz in a more advanced role. Federico Chiesa also got two assists in the Saints game and could have put himself in contention.
Either way, not having Ekitike and only signing Isak and no one else was never something that would have worked. Both players will get plenty of minutes.
Liverpool.com says: Ekitike will get his games. Last week, Liverpool played three times in eight days and that won't be unusual across the course of the next few months.
At top clubs, you need options. There is even an argument that Liverpool should have got one more senior attacker in the summer window, though Rio Ngumoha is more of an option than most people realized.
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