Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike could be on his way out of the Bundesliga before long, with Arne Slot’s Liverpool looking ready to strike their next big deal.
The 2025 Premier League champions are certainly reloading in their quest to retain their title, already spending big, and they could be about to shell out another £78m (including add-ons) to bring the 23-year-old Frenchman to Anfield. After a superb second half of last season, he’s a man in demand and Ekitike is reported in the German press to be keen on a move to Merseyside. He was once considered to be one of France’s brightest prospects and, after an indifferent spell at Paris Saint-Germain Ekitike certainly fulfilled his promise in Frankfurt last season, scoring 15 goals in 33 league appearances and 22 from 48 across all competitions.
The Reds have already signed Germany star Florian Wirtz in the big Bundesliga 2025 news at the start of the window, and now it looks more than likely they will plunder the German top flight again for the man who was born and raised in Reims, France, but has made his name across the border.
Ekitike signed on loan for PSG in 2022 and won a Ligue 1 title medal as well as representing the Parisians in the 2022/23 Champions League; but after making his move to the Parc des Princes permanent he only made one more appearance with chances severely restricted in a well stocked club. So he moved to Eintracht and, when the Eagles’ star striker Omar Marmoush moved to Manchester City last January it opened a door for Ekitike to show what he can do. And he took full advantage with his all action displays and 15 goals winning him a place in the 2024/15 Bundesliga Team of the Season.
Eintracht finished third last term and the SBOTOP Bundesliga 2025 betting odds say they will do well to match that position this time around, and a player with Ekitike’s skills at this stage of his career will find it hard to turn down an offer from such a big club as Liverpool. He’s a powerful right footed striker who can lead the line or play in a pair, with electric pace and acceleration, as well as clever dribbling skills. At 6ft 3in Ekitike is a handful in the air and can also play as a target man with a smaller player running off him, much as Marmoush did before his move, and he has the knack of drifting off the shoulder of the last defender to give himself one-on-one scoring opportunities, which he invariably converts.
With Darwin Nunez struggling to reach the heights Liverpool hoped for, the Reds are in the market for a big striker and Ekitike has become their number one target after they have been told that Newcastle United centre forward Alexander Isak is not for sale. The Magpies have also made an approach for Ekitike but the France U21 star prefers Liverpool as an option.
So, with the departure of England forward Callum Wilson, Eddie Howe’s struggles in the transfer market go on while Slot seems to be able to attract the type of player he thinks can help him to move the Reds forward. Manchester United have been in the market for a striker too, and have also made enquiries, but while the Red Devils are getting closer to signing Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo, it seems Ekitike is well out of their reach.
But Liverpool are so near to completing their capture of the player, who was an unused substitute during his side’s friendly with FSV Frankfurt on Saturday and the Bundesliga club said afterwards his potential departure is ‘a bitter loss’. Ekitike has already agreed personal terms with the Merseyside club and the negotiators are getting down to the finer details. They might have to stretch to £82m to get the deal over the line and I don’t think that would scupper the move.
Liverpool have already splashed out an eye-watering £200m to bring Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez to the club and, with Colombian star Luis Diaz potentially on his way to Barcelona or Bayern Munich, as well as the continuing uncertainty around Nunez, I strongly suspect Ekitike will be in the building before the month end.
Whether he’ll be an immediate success at Anfield remains to be seen, but his career trajectory is certainly going in the right direction; and with the likes of Mo Salah and Cody Gakpo in the Liverpool attacking unit, Ekitike could turn out to be another perfect piece in Slot’s jigsaw.
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