Liverpool’s year-long pursuit of a new striker is almost over with the club closing in on a deal for Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike.
Liverpool’s year-long pursuit of a new striker is almost over with the club closing in on a deal for Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike.
A bid is in the process of being formalised, with talks advanced for the 23-year-old who is now expected to join the Premier League champions and take Liverpool’s summer spending beyond the £250m mark.
Ekitike has an £86.5m release clause, although Liverpool hope to secure him for less. It remains to be seen if the German club will hold firm and insist upon Liverpool paying the full release clause. Crucially, Ekitike has informed his club that he wants to move to Anfield to sign a six-year contract.
This follows interest from Newcastle United, whose earlier offers were rejected and they have conceded defeat in their pursuit of the France Under-21 international. It is understood Manchester United were also keen on Ekitike, but once Liverpool showed their hand negotiations have accelerated to take him to Anfield. The club want him on board as soon as possible as they prepare to head to Asia on a pre-season tour next week.
Liverpool have been searching for an upgrade on Darwin Nunez for 12 months, scouting various options and were ready to move based on the availability of key targets.
Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak was among those high on the wanted list, but his price tag in excess of £120m – and the prospect of a long, drawn-out negotiation – has evidently led Liverpool to alternatives.
Ekitike has been scouted for a prolonged period and fits the usual recruitment profile of a young player who was highly regarded at youth level, earned a move to a big club when he joined Paris St-Germain, but has demonstrated his pedigree after dropping down a level, excelling in the Bundesliga and Europa League for Frankfurt.
He will be the third major Liverpool signing from German football this summer, following Florian Wirtz, who joined in a British record £116m deal from Bayer Leverkusen, and Jeremie Frimpong, who also joined from Leverkusen. Liverpool also signed left-back Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth for £40m.
Liverpool anticipate there will be outgoings to fund their latest purchase, with Nunez’s Anfield prospects the bleakest. The Uruguayan has attracted attention from Italy and Saudi Arabia so far, with the club hoping to raise at least £70m from his sale.
Liverpool used to be embarrassed in the transfer market – not any more
There was a moment last week when it appeared that Hugo Ekitike might be learning the words to Fog on the Tyne.
A few phone calls from Liverpool later and the French striker has been humming the Beatles back catalogue and the Anfield anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone.
Arne Slot enjoyed some memorable victories on the pitch in his debut campaign. They have been just as notable off it this summer, with rival clubs frantically having to review their recruitment plans as soon as the Premier League champions tilt their head and flutter their eyelids.
Manchester City were keen to sign Florian Wirtz, only to frantically inform the world they had ended their interest just before it became public knowledge that Liverpool were prepared to pay whatever it took to sign him. They insisted it was the financial package rather than the realisation Wirtz’s head had been turned by Slot which spooked them.
Now Newcastle have also suffered the same fate because the lure of Anfield is too great for Ekitike.
Such demonstrations of strength are a reflection of Liverpool’s newly established status as England’s best, and among the most likely to compete for next year’s Champions League. But such privilege will not and should not be taken for granted for those who remember how much Liverpool suffered prior to their recent renaissance. These sweet spots of power can be fleeting and as delicate as porcelain, as Liverpool know from their own bitter experiences.
The Anfield club were regularly gazumped by Sir Alex Ferguson in the late 1990s and 2000s, the United manager prowling and ready to make a last-minute intervention as he did when diverting Mikael Silvestre to Old Trafford from Anfield in 1999, and Nemanja Vidic in 2006.
Arsenal had their notable transfer wins over Liverpool managers too, such as Sol Campbell (who met Liverpool when he decided to leave Spurs on a Bosman), Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey and Alexis Sanchez, the latter doing so during a period when the routine excuse for Liverpool missing targets was a “preference to live in London”.
“If you’re good enough and pay them enough, they’ll say Kevin Keegan was their favourite player,” was the long-held view of those cynical about the excuses for failing to get deals over the line.
If Ferguson and Arsene Wenger’s ability to frequently embarrass Liverpool was not enough, there was a period at Chelsea under Roman Abramovich when it seemed any player watched by an Anfield scout was instantly on the Stamford Bridge wanted list.
A team of future Chelsea stars could have ended up on Merseyside had Liverpool been more attractive and flush at the time, including Damien Duff, Petr Cech and Arjen Robben in the first stages of the Abramovich revolution, to Willian and a certain Mohamed Salah later on, the Egyptian later admitting he wished he had moved to Anfield sooner. Even the rejuvenated Liverpool could not convince Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia to join Jurgen Klopp, although by then the power shift of today was gathering pace.
Players will go where they believe their ambitions – both sporting and financial – will be best served.
History and the promise of a return to former glories will get you so far, and Liverpool were over-reliant on that for a prolonged period when securing big deals.
The here and now is the biggest deal breaker of all.
With Wirtz and now Ekitike, Liverpool have shown that Anfield is a more attractive destination than at any point since the heady days of late 1970s and 80s.
Category: General Sports
