Owen Hargreaves believes Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitike can change into the perfect striker on the earth.
Liverpool signed Ekitike for an initial £69 million fee from Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt last summer.
The 23-year-old has been certainly one of Liverpool’s standout performers in an inconsistent campaign for the defending Premier League champions, scoring 16 goals in 37 appearances.
Ekitike scored Liverpool’s opener of their 5-2 win at home to West Ham on Saturday and Hargreaves feels the France international has all of the qualities to change into certainly one of the world’s best.
‘I inform you why he [Slot] is smiling, he’s got Hugo Ekitike in his team,’ Hargreaves told Premier League Productions.
‘What a player he’s by the way in which, oh my word, he might be among the best strikers on the earth.
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‘I do know we’ve got [Erling] Haaland but I believe he’s got one of the vital complete games, and the one thing I believe all the highest players need is confidence and belief, and he has.
‘Each time he steps on the pitch you may tell he’s like, ‘give me the ball, I’m going to create something’. And today [against West Ham], again, each time he touches the ball something special happens.
‘He makes it look really easy with all the pieces. He’s got size, he’s got skill, he’s got technique, he’s got awareness, all the time in the correct place at the correct time, technically he’s top and he’s got this confidence which I believe is infectious.’
Hargreaves also believes Liverpool will secure a Champions League place ahead of Chelsea this season.
Asked if Liverpool will finish in the highest five within the Premier League, Hargreaves said: ‘I believe they are going to.
‘I believe the issue for Chelsea is that they have a extremely young team, they don’t have the experience that I believe Liverpool have.
‘They’ve [Chelsea] probably got the toughest run of fixtures, if you happen to take a look at Chelsea’s fixtures, in the event that they’re going to get into it they’ve really got it earn it, Chelsea.’
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