Liverpool are reportedly leading the race to sign Eintracht Frankfurt star Hugo Ekitike ahead of Chelsea and Manchester United, as per German football expert Florian Plettenberg.
The Reds and Manchester City are expected to challenge for the Premier League title along with Arsenal next season. The Merseyside club and the Citizens have demonstrated in the market this summer why they have been the most successful English teams over the last decade.
Man City have already purchased Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait-Nouri, and Rayan Ait-Nouri in this window after spending big in January. Moreover, they are closing in on a deal for Sverre Nypan, but he is expected to leave on loan.
Pep Guardiola’s side are set to participate in the Club World Cup, so it is understandable why they have done the bulk of their summer business early.
On the other hand, Liverpool have also been very active this summer despite winning the Premier League title last term. After purchasing Jeremie Frimpong, they are closing in on a deal to sign Florian Wirtz.
Moreover, they have been working on a deal to hire Milos Kerkez of Bournemouth to reinforce the left-back position. Additionally, they reportedly want a new striker with Darwin Núñez likely to leave over the coming weeks.
Battle
Writing on X, Plettenberg says that Liverpool are keen on signing Ekitike to bolster the attack, but they need to offload Nunez to seal the deal, and the Frenchman already knows it.
Chelsea are also interested in the 22-year-old, while Man Utd have held talks to learn about the details of signing him. All three English clubs have been made aware that they will have to splash around £85m to get the deal done.
Despite the Blues and the Red Devils’ interest in the former Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool have a ‘very good chance’ of sealing the deal by fending off competition.
Frankfurt have a recent history of developing top-class strikers, with Randal Kolo Muani and Omar Marmoush being among them. Now, Ekitike is emerging from their pipeline.
Ekitike is a similar type of player to Alexander Isak rather than a target man, and could be a great coup for the Merseyside club should they eventually manage to secure his service by defeating Man Utd and Chelsea in this race.