Hugo Ekitike's Rehabilitation Journey at Clairefontaine

Hugo Ekitike has offered a fresh glimpse into his rehabilitation as Liverpool continue to count down the months until their £79million striker is back on the pitch.

The 24-year-old has been out since April after rupturing his Achilles tendon, a brutal end to a debut season at Anfield that had promised so much. Signed from Eintracht Frankfurt a year ago, Ekitike hit 17 goals before his campaign was cut short, his momentum halted just as he was beginning to look fully at home in red.

Now the France international is deep in the grind of recovery work.

Clairefontaine graft

Ekitike has been stepping up his rehab following successful surgery and is currently working at the famed Centre Medical de Clairefontaine, the elite facility used by France’s men’s and women’s national teams.

The centre posted several photos of the Liverpool forward going through his paces, documenting the latest stage of his comeback programme. Ekitike shared the post on his Instagram story and liked it, amplifying the message from the facility, which read:

"At Clairefontaine, there is the Chateau for national team call-ups... and the Medical Centre for their rehabilitation. Thank you to our Bleus* and Bleues for their trust."

For Liverpool supporters, the images are a rare public sign that the long road back is at least moving in the right direction.

Iraola’s stark timeline

Andoni Iraola has been careful not to raise expectations. The Liverpool boss last addressed Ekitike’s condition during pre-season and made it clear that patience will be required.

"In terms of order, I think the closest one to returning is [Giovanni] Leoni. After will be Conor [Bradley] and Hugo [Ekitike], but especially the last two are still way off," he said in July. "We are talking about months and still a lot of time out."

That blunt assessment underlined the scale of the striker’s injury. A ruptured Achilles is one of the most serious setbacks a player can face, and Liverpool’s medical staff will not rush a forward whose game depends so much on sharp movement and explosive power.

Injury list grows

Ekitike is not the only long-term absentee. Iraola must also plan without Giovanni Leoni and Conor Bradley, leaving three key squad options watching from the treatment room.

Leoni has been sidelined since suffering an ACL injury on his debut last September, a nightmare start to his Liverpool career. Bradley, meanwhile, damaged his knee in January and has been out ever since.

All three are working toward the same goal: a return to first-team action in a side that will look very different by the time they are ready to rejoin it. For Ekitike, the images from Clairefontaine are just snapshots of the slog. The real question now is simple: when he finally pulls that shirt back on, can he pick up exactly where he left off?