Hugo Ekitike has settled into life at Liverpool brilliantly after a big summer move from Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Frenchman arrived as part of a revamp of the Reds’ forward line and immediately hit the ground running.

Ekitike matched a record held by Daniel Sturridge as one of the only players to score in his first three games for Liverpool and has looked like a good fit from day one.

Part of that is to do with Ekitike‘s style on the pitch, of course. The 23-year-old appears to fit perfectly in with how Arne Slot wants his Liverpool squad to play.

But coming to a new club is also about assimilating to the culture you are joining and creating a bond with your teammates.

Thankfully, Ekitike looks to have done this easily as well, and the No. 22 has now picked out the ‘most important’ Liverpool player in helping him settle in this summer.

Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

Hugo Ekitike highlights Ibrahima Konate importance

It must always help a player to join a new club if he can rely on the support of some countrymen.

For Ekitike, that comes in the form of France teammate Ibrahima Konate. And speaking to Stan Sport Football, the striker has highlighted the help from Konate in being crucial to his early days at Liverpool.

“I think the most important person when I came here was Ibou to be honest,” he said. “He’s been in the club for four years, so he knows everything here, he knows the people so he helped me a lot with everything off the pitch and on the pitch.”

But it has not only been Konate who has been lending support for Ekitike. According to the former Eintracht man, all the Liverpool players have been key to getting him settled on the pitch.

“The other players helped me more on the pitch, connection, links to find my position here,” Ekitike revealed. “But Ibou has been really important for me here.

“The other players helped me to settle well in the team, in the training ground. I found my house quickly, so all these things kind of helped me to just think about football and be focused on my job on the pitch. It’s been good.”

Ekitike surprised by size of Liverpool fanbase

Speaking to Stan Sport ahead of Saturday’s Merseyside Derby, Ekitike also gave his honest opinion on the Liverpool fans.

“I didn’t know the fanbase of Liverpool was huge like that, but it’s really good. I feel like they like me, so they show a lot of love and I just want to give them back,” he said.

Also looking back at his first experience of Anfield and You’ll Never Walk Alone, Ekitike admitted that he had goosebumps while listening to the Liverpool anthem sung for the first time.

“The first time I heard this I had goosebumps, you know,” he claimed. “It’s very special, it’s a very special stadium, a very beautiful stadium.

“It’s kind of the same atmosphere I had in Germany in Frankfurt, but it’s a very good stadium and I love the atmosphere. I’m sure we can play very good football there.”