EKI THUMP

Striker Hugo working hard to become a Reds hit after learning his trade with Messi and Mbappe

- By IAN DOYLE

THE question hadn’t even finished when Hugo Ekitike let out a chuckle and rocked back in his seat before delivering an emphatic response.

Does Liverpool boss Arne Slot push the striker a lot in training?

“Yes!” laughed the France international striker. “As a player, sometimes you’re p***ed, it's annoying.

“I know he wants the best for me and the best for the team. I would say he’s on my back, but not for a bad thing. He just wants to help me, so I don’t take that badly.

“Sometimes you say that when a coach is on your back, maybe sometimes you feel like it’s a little bit too much and you want to complain.

“But it’s a good thing because I think if a coach doesn’t like you, he will not speak to you or not try to get the best of you.

“He wants me to give more and more and more. But I think that’s a question you should ask him!”

Certainly, Ekitike has proven himself a quick learner in English football since his £79million arrival from Eintracht Frankfurt in July with six goals in 15 appearances for the Premier League champions.

However, a needless second yellow and subsequent red card for taking his shirt off after scoring the winner in the League Cup against Southampton in September - ruling himself out of the Premier League defeat at Crystal Palace three days later that sparked a miserable Liverpool run of six defeats in seven - prompted a public rebuke from Slot.