How Liverpool can fit Ekitike and Isak in the same team

Liverpool's summer window was already the most curious we've ever seen from a Premier League champion.

But bringing in Newcastle's Alexander Isak pushes the Reds' transfer business into unprecedented territory, having already also signed Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt.

Not since the age of good old-fashioned 4-4-2s - when little-and-large strike partnerships were borderline mandatory - have we seen a top club sign two elite number nines in the same window.

What exactly is Arne Slot thinking? Here are two ways it might work.

Ekitike replacing Diaz as left-winger in Slot's conventional 4-2-3-1

The simpler thing to do is fully convert Ekitike into a Luis Diaz replacement.

Ekitike had played just nine games (two starts and 324 minutes total) as a left-winger before joining the Reds, although he has often tended to drift out to that side, most notably throughout 2023-24.

More importantly, the way Slot has used Cody Gapko and Diaz - as one-on-one dribblers, using their acceleration to cut inside full-backs - corresponds with Ekitike's best qualities.

He hasn't done it much before, but Ekitike has the makings of a Slot left-winger.

Ekitike and Isak together, Frankfurt-style, in a 4-2-2-2

Ekitike's best football at Frankfurt came as part of a proper strike partnership with Omar Marmoush before his January departure to Manchester City saw the end of Dino Toppmoller's 3-5-2 formation.

Marmoush and Ekitike regularly swapped positions, dove-tailing instinctively as one dropped and the other went in behind. It was a swirling, rhythmic balance that confounded defenders and propelled Frankfurt into a title challenge until late December.

Liverpool are unlikely to move to a back three any time soon, not least because a 3-5-2 with Ekitike and Isak would mean benching Mohamed Salah. But there is a way to put Isak and Ekitike together, albeit a pretty risky one.

Slot's Liverpool regularly line up in a 4-2-4/4-4-2 when not in possession, but crucially that's with a 10 (Dominik Szoboszlai) playing very much as a third midfielder when Liverpool have the ball.

What we're suggesting here is notably more fragile through the middle, requiring a two-man midfield to cover all the space when a quick turnover triggers an opposition counter-attack.

There's also the problem of playing Wirtz on the left, a position he has only very occasionally played for Bayer Leverkusen and Germany.

In all likelihood, this is one for when Liverpool are chasing a game. It's a bit kitchen-sinky for anything earlier than that.

Ekitike as competition for four separate forward positions

We don't necessarily need to come up with a wildcard formation that crams all the new signings into the same team.

If all goes well Liverpool will play over 60 games next season, meaning they will need a regularly rotating front line to keep legs fresh and opponents guessing.

Ekitike as a £69m cover option probably doesn't sound very appealing, but he will arguably be the second-best player in four separate positions for Liverpool - although Szoboszlai, rivalling Wirtz, might say otherwise.

When you consider injuries, the need to rotate for twice-weekly football, and Slot's tactical adaptations to the opposition, Ekitike could easily tot up over 30 starts in all competitions even if he wasn't technically considered to be in the club's best XI.

Not that managers of elite clubs tend to think in terms of 'best XIs' anymore - schedules are too busy and injuries too common for that.

In fact, what fans assume to be their team's best XI rarely actually play together, as many Liverpool supporters know all too well.