£69m Liverpool player’s agent says his client was so close to signing for Newcastle this summer

Add as preferred source on Google

Liverpool were the kings of the transfer window this summer, with Arne Slot and Richard Hughes spending over £400million on signing new players.

Indeed, this is an awful lot of money, but since they also sold a lot of their first-team squad, the Reds’ spending levelled out to around £200million.

It was clear that change was needed at Anfield despite their Premier League win last term, but nobody could have anticipated how much change actually occurred.

Slot now has a new-look squad at his disposal with at least 13 players among his ranks who deserve to start every game.

However, this number could have been 12 if one player had chosen to make the move to Newcastle instead of Liverpool this term.

Hugo Ekitike’s agent says everything was agreed with Newcastle before his Liverpool transfer

Hugo Ekitike has arguably been Liverpool’s best signing of the transfer window.

The Frenchman has taken like a duck to water and has often converted each chance he’s been given.

He already has three goals to his name this term, but with Alexander Isak now among the Reds’ ranks, he’ll have his work cut out to keep his place.

However, in an interview with Italian outlet TuttoSport, Ali Barat, Ekitike’s agent, said that things could have ended up going a different way for his client this summer.

“I was working on behalf of Eintracht Frankfurt to bring him to Newcastle,” he said.

“I stayed in Germany for ten days. We agreed on everything with the German club and the footballer, then Liverpool called him and he chose Anfield.”

Liverpool must ensure that Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak share the striker role evenly

In the end, Ekitike ended up joining Liverpool for a fee worth an initial £69million.

Many expected this to be way too much money for the number nine, but in reality, it’s felt like it wasn’t enough.

Ekitike has not only been solid in the air, but due to his agility and pace, he’s a rather tough opponent for defenders to play against.

Isak has a similar playing style to the 23-year-old, which could again cause another problem for Slot, especially if they’re facing a team that knows how to deal with that sort of player.

At the moment, it’s anyone’s guess what could end up happening, but with the way things have panned out thus far, it feels like Liverpool could be on course for another dominant season.