Hugo Ekitike made his ‘unofficial’ debut for Liverpool in their pre-season friendly against Yokohama F. Marinos today, featuring for 45 minutes before he was substituted at half-time.Arne Slot had indicated prior to kick-off that the newly-signed striker was unlikely to play any more than half of the match and the head coach was true to his word, but it was nonetheless welcome to get a first sight of the 23-year-old in the famous red shirt.The Frenchman had an early sight of goal but the chance was snuffed out by the home defence, and he later tried an audacious backheeled effort which was deflected out for a corner.What did the media make of Ekitike’s first Liverpool outing?Ekitike’s debut performance for Liverpool received some positive reviews from the media in attendance at the Nissan Stadium, but there was also some critiquing of what the forward produced.He was given 6/10 in the Liverpool Echo‘s half-time player ratings with a verdict of: “Took one pass in from Salah nicely early on and has tried to link up with his fellow attackers but no real chances so far for the new man on his unofficial debut.”Image via SVMMSky Sports reporter Peter Smith wrote: “Ekitike was straight into the action, picked out by Salah within the opening moments of this match. A good early touch excited but he then ran into traffic – and that kind of sums up a first-half on the fringes for the debutant.“He has largely stayed high, trying to pin the Yokohama centre-backs, only occasionally drifting to the channels. There have been more nice touches – including his clever flick from Bradley’s cutback which went narrowly past the near post – but a largely quiet first 45 for the big man.”Ekitike adjusting to his new surroundingsEkitike is only beginning the process of adapting to playing with his new teammates, so whether he was world-class or miles off it today, it’d be far too impetuous to provide any definitive verdict on how he’ll fare at Liverpool.There were positive signs in how he linked up with his fellow forwards (Salah in particular), and the backheel would’ve made for a show-stopping debut goal had it gone into the net, although there wre understandable signs of rustiness from the 23-year-old in his first match for several weeks.The Frenchman will surely feature in one of the games against Athletic Bilbao next Monday, and the Community Shield the following weekend, before the Premier League roars into life once again, so there’ll still be opportunities for him to integrate further with his teammates prior to the season proper getting underway.He hit 22 goals for Eintracht Frankfurt last term, which represents a reasonable target to aim towards for the 2025/26 campaign. If he can manage it, the initial £69m outlay will prove to be money very well spent!The post ‘Largely quiet’ – How journalists reacted to Hugo Ekitike performance in first game for Liverpool appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.