Hugo Ekitike Targeting Boxing Day Return to Action

When Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitike suffered a ruptured Achilles against Paris Saint-Germain on April 14th, a lengthy layoff seemed certain. While no longer considered a certain career ending injury, a ruptured Achilles can be a bigger challenge to overcome than even a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

Initial talk had Ekitike likely to be out not just through France’s World Cup campaign this summer but for at least the first half of the 2026-27 season, perhaps longer. News since has only served to confirm that sort of timeline, and this week L’Equipe are reporting that the player himself has circled Boxing Day.

According to the French paper of record, Ekitike—currently in the United States to continue his rehabilitation and expected to link up with the national team to watch at least one of their group stage games—wants to begin training at some point in the autumn to allow for a return to that timeline.

Targeting the final days of 2026 is perhaps slightly optimistic given everything known about his injury, but at this point it makes sense to be holding on to the best case scenario—and the fact that Ekitike is doing so does suggest that at least there have been no complications to set back his recovery efforts so far.

In the meantime, Ekitike will be watching France as Les Bleus kick off their World Cup campaign today against Senegal in a match that pairs Group I’s heavy favourites—and for many favourites to win it all—with a Cameroon side many will see as the most likely side to finish second ahead of Norway and Iraq.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com