Jamie Carragher makes bold Hugo Ekitike claim amid Fernando Torres comparisons

The current and former Liverpool strikers have been compared recently in the wake of Ekitike's excellent finsih against Newcastle on Saturday, and now Carragher has given his verdict

Jamie Carragher has claimed Hugo Ekitike is better than Fernando Torres

Jamie Carragher has claimed he believes Hugo Ekitike is already a better player than Fernando Torres, as the comparisons between the former and current Liverpool strikers continue.

That talk has grown in the wake of Ekitike’s sublime individual goal against Newcastle United on Saturday, when he sprinted onto a long ball from Milos Kerkez and finished smartly past Nick Pope with an outside-of-the-foot poke.

The pace and power evoked memories of Torres in red, while several videos have compared Ekitike’s goal with another netted by the Spaniard for Liverpool against Chelsea. Steven Gerrard also said after the 4-1 win at Anfield on Saturday that he can see similarities between the current Liverpool no.22 and his former teammate.

Carragher has weighed in on that debate, and after exalting Ekitike’s skill for the goal against Newcastle, claimed the former Eintracht Frankfurt man has skills that Torres never possessed.

“I actually think Hugo Ekitike's a better player than Torres,” the ex-defender said on Sky Sports. “I'm not sure he'd get as many goals as Torres as he did over a couple of years, but what Fernando Torres had, he had Steven Gerrard.

“I think Fernando Torres, sitting in Liverpool's shape, was made by Steven Gerard. Now, I don't think Hugo Ekitike would rely as much on Florian Wirtz, but if that combination keeps going, then that's when you could maybe get the goals that Fernando Torres got.”

Ekitike netted a brace against Newcastle(Image: Getty Images)

Speaking at the weekend, Gerrard said: “It is all about Hugo Ekitike running the channel. It is Torres-like.

“He gets out of his feet and that toe-poke. He reminds me of Torres every time I watch him.”

Ekitike is on 15 goals for the season and, despite the summer arrivals of Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, plus the presence of player-of-the-season Mohamed Salah, it’s the Frenchman who has proved the most reliable in front of goal.

His emerging partnership with Wirtz is helping Liverpool's offensive output, and the pair have now combined five times in their last eight joint appearances.

Wirtz and Ekitike's partnership is growing and becoming increasingly important for Liverpool(Image: Getty Images)

“Everyone should talk about his goals and his actions, how nice this is because this is where pundits or every fan should talk about because for them this is more important than work rate off the ball,” Arne Slot said on Saturday.

“But me as a manager I have seen improvement over six months, but lately a lot of improvement in terms of work rate off the ball, his ability to keep on going off the ball, especially Hugo and Florian.

“Now everyone can see that improvement. The better we are off the ball, the more we have the ball.

“The more we have the ball, the more they can show how special they are and all the ones that won the league here together. Unfortunately, that took a bit of time because that is how high the intensity levels of the Premier League are.”