Newcastle United fans eagerly tuned into Thursday evening's Maurice Revello Tournament clash between Mexico and France's Under-20 sides to watch not only under-23 talent Santiago Munoz - but also Reims forward and key summer transfer target Hugo Ekitike.
Those supporters would eventually be left disappointed, with Ekitike limping off just eight minutes into the semi-final, pulling up after clutching his right hamstring. The striker suffered numerous issues with his left hamstring earlier this season and the problem is one Newcastle United chiefs will be well aware of given his recent injury history.
The 19-year-old suffered his original hamstring issue back in February as Reims took on Brest. The MRI taken in the days after revealed a grade two lesion, with a tear of more than 10 centimeters.
READ MORE: Newcastle United's Hugo Ekitike move in doubt after striker limps off for France U20s
Reims boss Oscar Garcia expected his young starlet to be out of action for around a month, claiming Ekitike was simply fatigued after a long campaign. "Normally, you have this type of injury in the second half, when you are tired," he told French media at the time.
But Ekitike aggravated that injury on his comeback trail back in April and missed another month due to the setback. The teenager missed a total of 10 games across 68 days between February 20 and May 12. His return saw him feature for 16 minutes in the 2-1 defeat to Lens.
Ekitike featured in the final two games of the Ligue 1 campaign and headed to Toulon with his French under-20 colleagues earlier this month seemingly fit, playing a part in recent clashes with the Under-20 sides. However, it is clear the issue wasn't properly fixed, with the player sporting hamstring support during Thursday's clash with Mexico.
Joseph Johnson and Jon Mason, Strength and Conditioning Coaches at Martin Nugent Elite Performance explained to Chronicle Live how Ekitike's recent hamstring injury may continue to plague him throughout his career. "Hamstring injuries are the most common in football and also have the highest rate of reoccurrence too. Ekitike suffered quite a large grade two hamstring tear back in February and this alone takes usually a minimum of four to eight weeks to recover," the pair said.
"This is quite a short period of time to recover from such an injury, so you’d have to ask how strong his hamstring was when he returned to match play. Having worked with players from European teams before, they tend not to be that focussed on lifting weights. With this in mind it would be interesting to know how much gym work he completed within his rehab, and subsequently how much force his hamstrings are producing.
"If he hasn’t completed a thorough rehab protocol, his hamstring may always be weaker and as a result be at an increased risk of injury throughout his career. If his body is struggling to cope with the training or match load now - in a league which is supposedly slower and less explosive than that of the Premier League, and at such a young age - it would be interesting to see how he would cope moving forward as he ages. The fact this is his first full season as a first team professional and he had had this many injuries is alarming."
