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By labeling Mohamed Salah one of Liverpool's "all-time greats," former manager Jürgen Klopp somewhat unnecessarily cast doubt on Hugo Ekitiké's potential to reach comparable heights.
Salah's departure at the end of the summer was confirmed on Tuesday, barely a year after he put pen to paper on a new two-year deal that made him the highest-earning player in Liverpool's history—the Egyptian King spent much of the 2024–25 title-winning campaign publicly pressuring the club to secure that contract.
There is no question about Salah's iconic standing at Liverpool. His 255 goals for the Reds, a tally that could still grow over the remaining two months, places him third on the club's all-time scoring chart. He reached his first 100 Liverpool goals in just 151 appearances—a club record—and leads all players in European goals scored (53).
Salah is also a four-time Premier League Golden Boot recipient, a three-time FWA Footballer of the Year, a three-time PFA Players' Player of the Year, a two-time Premier League title winner, and a Champions League champion.
Speaking on The Anfield Wrap, Klopp—who managed Liverpool for seven of Salah's nine seasons at the club—acknowledged that even the 33-year-old wasn't exempt from the same demands placed on every player.
"In the moment when you work with him, it is the same as every other player: 'You can't lose the ball here, you have to defend here,' all these kind of things. But with the bigger view, it is just ridiculous."
Klopp described Salah's statistics as "unmatched" and questioned whether anyone in the next ten years could equal or eclipse them. While that seems unlikely given Salah's generational individual accomplishments, Klopp mentioned current Liverpool forward Ekitiké by name in the discussion.
"[Salah has] unmatched numbers—will we be talking in 10 years and someone else has them? Ekitiké or whoever. I think it will be really difficult [to surpass Salah]. I think he is one of the all-time greats."
Ekitiké Matching Salah Numbers Not Impossible
Ekitiké is still very much at the beginning of his Liverpool story. The French forward had only just turned 23 when he joined from Eintracht Frankfurt last summer and has emerged as Liverpool's standout new signing this season, despite having to navigate the challenge of being effectively supplanted by Alexander Isak within just a few weeks of his arrival.
Ekitiké's tally of 17 goals across all competitions, while well below the 44 Salah delivered in his debut campaign in 2017–18, remains a commendable return.
Given the right conditions, he has the potential to remain at Liverpool for the long haul—a decade or beyond. To match Salah's output, Ekitiké would need to average roughly 26 goals per season across all competitions over the next nine years, a significant challenge—but by no means an impossible one.
To casually dismiss his chances at this stage already seems premature and unfair.