If reports are to be believed – and the validity of those is never quite certain at this point in the year – the Liverpool bosses are prepared to go big on defending their Premier League title next season.
It appears there will not be a repeat of the 2020 summer transfer window, when Liverpool largely prioritised squad players rather than those capable of walking straight into – and improving – Jurgen Klopp’s starting XI.
Lessons, it seems, have been learned.
Much to Jamie Carragher’s presumed delight – the Liverpool legend wants Milos Kerkez signed alongside a top centre-forward – the newly-crowned champions are reportedly planning to back Arne Slot with one of the biggest transfer kitties in the club’s history.
That means, according to The Telegraph, Carragher may get his wish with the £40 million-rated Bournemouth flyer.
Ditto with Hugo Ekitike, the latest Eintracht Frankfurt striker destined for a mega-money switch to one of the powerhouses of European football. One seemingly lined up as Liverpool’s primary alternative to Newcastle United’s frightfully-expensive Alexander Isak.
As Fabrizio Romano explains pretty succinctly, Newcastle would only let Isak go if a ‘crazy offer’ lands on Eddie Howe’s table.
Liverpool fans impressed by Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike
Whether Ekitike proves to be more Omar Marmoush than Luka Jovic, only time will tell of course.
But with The Telegraph adding that Liverpool were in attendance to watch the former Paris Saint-Germain starlet run RB Leipzig ragged in Saturday’s 4-0 thrashing, Ekitike’s latest stand-out display represents an audition aced.
‘Hugo Ekitike is a Liverpool player next season,’ one hopeful reporter writes on X after watching the stylish Frenchman, who turned down Newcastle United before joining PSG, take his tally for the season to 22 goals and ten assists.
‘I wasn’t sold initially but Ekitike performance today has totally moved me,” another impressed fan adds. ‘He is a chance magnet and can dominate the box to some extent as well.’
‘Think only reasons fans are put off are due to them seeing him as a project striker, which just isn’t the case. He does have a few things to work on – he’s literally 22 – but he’d contribute massively now for us now. So many green flags with him.’
‘Watched both of their games yesterday, and I might prefer Ekitike over Isak.’
On a day when Isak rather went through the motions despite scoring from the spot against Ipswich Town, Ekitike also outshone another striker on Liverpool’s radar.
£85m-rated Ekitike outshines RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko
RTK understands that Liverpool contacted RB Leipzig over Benjamin Sesko.
Sesko was a mere spectator, however, as Ekitike wreaked havoc with a typically wandering centre-forward performance. He drifted wide to the left before slipping in Ansgar Knauff for Frankfurt’s opener. Ekitike then created another identical opportunity before getting his own name on the scoresheet with a crashing header.
A la Isak, the 6ft 3ins Ekitike is tall, rangy and somewhat gangly presence. Do not, however, underestimate the physicality which his frame belies.
‘Watching Leipzig game and noticed a few things. One, stay away from Sesko. Two, go for Xavi Simons,” one fan adds, urging Liverpool to bring in another ex-PSG starlet in Dutch playmaker Simons.
“Three, Ekitike would be a big gamble [but he] just scored a great header.
‘I would go mainly for [Wolves’ Matheus] Cunha or Ekitike in the summer,’ one fan agrees.
‘Liverpool better pay attention to Ekitike. A nine who generates play and drags the defence [out of position] and is cheaper than the dreamed Isak’.
Frankfurt reportedly want £85 million for Ekitike. Board member and former CEO Axel Hellmann, meanwhile, admitted that a sale in the coming window or in the very near future is ‘realistic’.
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