Tottenham finally pip Liverpool and West Ham in the race to sign 17-goal Frankfurt star Hugo Ekitike
Tottenham finally pip Liverpool and West Ham in the race to sign 17-goal Frankfurt star Hugo Ekitike
Three Premier League clubs, including Liverpool, are vying for the signature of Frankfurt star Hugo Ekitike this summer.
The Frenchman has been one of the best performers in the Bundesliga this season, netting 17 goals and six assists in 32 games in all competitions.
He had formed a lethal partnership with Omar Marmoush before he completed a big-money move to Manchester City in the January transfer window and now the 22-year-old could be next to make a move to England.
According to Foot Mercato, Premier League ‘bigwigs’ Liverpool, Tottenham and West Ham United are all ‘making eyes’ at the forward and with his deal set to expire in 2029, this summer could spark a bidding war but he could end up costing upwards of £60million, given how they’ve done business in recent years.
Marmoush was sold for £59million, while Randal Kolo Muani cost Paris Saint-Germain £76million in 2023 and former strike Luka Jovic cost Real Madrid around £62million – which suggests any deal Ekitike would cost similar.
Any deal completed would be a positive for Paris Saint-Germain, his former club, due to their sell-on-clause that would grant them 20% of the transfer fee.
For Liverpool, they have Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez in attack but there are question marks over the future of Nunez and Mohamed Salah who’s contract expires in June.
Tottenham will want to strengthen regardless after a difficult season, with Son Heung-Min’s impact slowly wavering and Dominic Solanke suffering from niggling injuries, Ekitike could be their main man.
But West Ham, who stand as outsiders to secure a deal, require a more consistent figure in attack after Niklas Fulkrug’s difficulties with injuries since joining last summer.
Arne Slot confirms the importance of key striker
With Jota now back in action for Liverpool after a difficult time with injuries, Arne Slot has confirmed he will be set to play a key role in attack from now until the end of the season.
“I think we’ve missed him for three or four months because it was Chelsea in October, that’s a long way back, so we’ve missed the No.9 that played in the first seven or eight games every single one for almost three or four months.
“Now he is back. He played 60 [minutes on Sunday] and with a decent amount of games we play now, you don’t expect him to play 90, 90, 90 in the upcoming three, but he will be involved in hopefully all three and hopefully with a lot of minutes as well.”
We’ve seen Slot use Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz as rotating left-wingers/strikers which has been successful but Jota began the season and netted the first goal of the Slot reign. Yet, his striker partner Nunez could be the one to make way this summer after previous links to Saudi Arabia, freeing up space for someone like Ekitite to come in.
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