Liverpool urged to sign Lewandowski as a short-term fix after Ekitike's Achilles blow
Liverpool's season-ending nightmare against Paris Saint-Germain on 14 April took more than their Champions League dream with it. It took Hugo Ekitike too. The 23-year-old was stretchered off Anfield in tears after 22 minutes with what scans have since confirmed as a ruptured Achilles, an injury that will keep him out for nine to twelve months and end any hope of him being at the World Cup with France.
Into that vacuum has stepped an unlikely name. Robert Lewandowski. Out of contract at Barcelona on 30 June, with 12 LaLiga goals for the season and a 37-year-old body that still has enough left in it to bully defences, the Poland striker has become the short-term fix some pundits believe Arne Slot has to consider.
Joe Cole lights the touchpaper
The idea has been pushed publicly by former Reds midfielder Joe Cole, who argued that Lewandowski could provide the sort of penalty-box ruthlessness Liverpool have suddenly lost overnight. Ekitike had scored 17 goals in all competitions for the club this season before the injury. You do not replace numbers like that from the academy or with a loanee.
Lewandowski's appeal is the obvious one. A free transfer on a short deal, a goalscorer who still commands respect in any defence he walks into, and a dressing-room voice who has been through the wringer of title pushes at Bayern Munich and Barcelona. If Liverpool want a striker to steady things through the next twelve months while Ekitike rehabs, there are worse options on the market.
The FSG problem
The counter-argument is also obvious, and it is why this is still a rumour and not a signing. FSG have built the modern Liverpool on long-term value. A 37-year-old on reported wages of around £350,000 a week, turning 38 in August and needing to be managed carefully through a congested calendar, does not fit that model. Slot would also have to find a way to integrate a striker who is unmistakably an old-school nine into a system that has leaned on pressing and movement since before Jurgen Klopp left.
There is also a question of squad direction. Liverpool have options. Alexander Isak is their No. 9, Cody Gakpo can lead the line, and Federico Chiesa is available to play through the middle as well. Younger targets on the summer shortlist may come a few weeks earlier than planned. Lewandowski is the headline-grabbing answer, but he is not the only one, and it would be a surprise if FSG went there first.
Still, the next six weeks of the Premier League and the summer transfer window will tell us a lot about how worried Liverpool really are. Ekitike's timeline stretches from January 2027 at the earliest to April 2027 at the latest. That is a long time to cover with the squad as it stands.
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