The outline of an agreement is in place between Liverpool and Eintracht Frankfurt for the proposed transfer of forward Hugo Ekitike.
Work is still needed to formally get the deal done and that is expected in the next day or so.
If all add-ons within the impending move are realised, there is optimism at Frankfurt that it would represent a club-record sale — surpassing the €95million (£82.3m, $110.5m) achieved when Randal Kolo Muani switched to Paris Saint-Germain in 2023.
The Athletic reported on Thursday that Liverpool were advancing in talks for Ekitike, with personal terms not expected to be an issue.
Newcastle United previously saw a €75m offer for Ekitike turned down and after cooling their interest in the 23-year-old, began considering Brentford’s Yoane Wissa as an alternative target.
Liverpool had also contacted Newcastle over the potential signing of Alexander Isak, indicating their willingness to do a deal in the region of £120m.
The Anfield club have been prioritising a striker this summer and, while sensitivities remain understandably high following the tragic death of Diogo Jota earlier this month, there is an awareness they need to make further additions after bringing in Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez.
There may also be departures in Liverpool’s forward line, with the club open to offers on Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz having informed them of his desire to leave amid interest from Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
Ekitike joined Eintracht from Paris Saint-Germain initially on loan in January 2024 before signing permanently in the summer for €17.5m. He scored four goals and two assists in 14 appearances during his half-season loan spell in Germany, before registering 22 goals and 12 assists last term as he was named in the Bundesliga team of the season.
The forward has been capped five times for the France Under-21s but has yet to play for the senior side. Ekitike came through the academy at Reims before joining PSG in 2022. He had come close to joining Newcastle in January 2022 before the move broke down on deadline day, then signing for PSG that summer.
Additional reporting by David Ornstein
‘A player evolving into a complete forward’
Analysis by German football writer Sebastian Stafford-Bloor
Ekitike is fast becoming an excellent player. The first few months of the 2024-25 season were characterised by his combinations and understanding with Omar Marmoush and, before the Egyptian’s departure for City, they became one of the most dangerous pairings in the Bundesliga.
It was in that partnership that Ekitike showed the variety within his game. A goalscorer, yes, but also a devastating counter-attacker — as Tottenham Hotspur found out in the Europa League, against whom he scored brilliantly in the first leg of their quarter-final — and a forward capable of creating chances, with pieces of skill or well-weighted passes that befuddled defenders. Either through the middle or down the left of the attack, he was a menace.
He seemed to grow into the gaps left by Marmoush, becoming more central to Frankfurt’s attacking game in the new year. In addition, while most obviously a technical player, he can be a formidable penalty box target, too, and has shown an aerial presence that can take defenders by surprise. Combine that with his capacity to beat defenders one-on-one, either through speed or skill, and you have the portrait of a player evolving into a complete forward.
There is no question that he is still developing. He must become more efficient and is occasionally prone to snatching at chances, but he is as talented as there is in German football and Premier League interest this summer was inevitable.
(Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
Leave a Reply