Finding a frontman this summer is very much in fashion - Hugo Ekitike is very much the perfect fit.
A striker on the pitch, a stylist off it. The 22-year-old has a keen interest in fasion, even if his appetite for goals has taken over in recent times.
The Frenchman has been linked with Manchester United in recent days as the Reds step up their striker search, while Chelsea and Liverpool have also been credited with an interest. Arsenal are similarly seeking a striker with goal-getters at the top of plenty of shopping lists.
Ekitike shops for goals and clothes. “I’m interested in fashion and I follow trends, but I used to be much more into it," he said, [speaking to Frankfurt's website](https://en.eintracht.de/news/ich-habe-sehr-sehr-viel-gelernt-interview-hugo-ekitike-169097/ ) earlier this season. "I only think about football now – I don’t have time for anything else.
"I don’t really have a particular style – it changes every time. Sometimes I go for streetwear, sometimes I go classy, and sometimes I dress more extravagantly."
Ekitike broke through at hometown club Reims in France and his form quickly attracted PSG, who secured his services for €35million after an initial loan. Aged just 20, Ekitike found himself competing for a strating spot in a star studded frontline that included Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.
Perhaps unsurprisingly minutes were tough to come by and he made only 12 league starts for the Parisians. A loan to Frankfurt followed, a move which became permanent and where Ekitike has flourished.
That rise is down to talent and hard work but also the lessons learned from being on the fringes in Paris.
"It's only now, after spending a lot of time at home reflecting on what happened, that I've realised that I've been lucky enough to be in a place where no one else has been," he told [TNT Sports](https://www.tntsports.co.uk/football/europa-league/2024-2025/exclusive-hugo-ekitike-on-learning-from-lionel-messi-and-why-he-and-omar-marmoush-are-at-50-of-what-they-can-be_sto20062239/story.shtml) this year.
"At the time, I didn't see things like that because I wanted to play.
"I'm always on a quest to learn. I have a thirst for learning. I realised that at the end of the day, I'd maybe spent a year, a year and a half watching the best players in the world go through their paces in training and even in matches. Sometimes up close, sometimes a little further away."
His form at Frankfurt has catapulted him into conversations of Europe's best strikers. He plundered 22 goals last term to help the club to a third place finish and a Champions League place.
Ekitike has five goals in five games for France Under-21s and a senior call is surely not far away. Whatever the summer holds for the talented frontman, his work etic and outlook won't change.
"Everything moves fast in football," he added. "You're (up) there, then you're (down) there very quickly. What I'm trying to show is that I'm constantly progressing, that it's linear and that I'm continuing to climb.
"I was young and I climbed quickly, even though I had a lot of things to learn and store up, but that's how it happened.
"I wouldn't wish it on anyone, it's not easy. But I'm still here. I think I've got a good head and I'm continuing to work to be the best I can be."