Manchester United seem to have firmly shifted their attention to Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike and an ace in the pack at Old Trafford could grease the wheels for a deal.
After Liam Delap joined Chelsea over Man Utd, the club had to pivot in their striking search and landed upon Viktor Gyokeres.
However, it recently emerged that Gyokeres prefers Arsenal, which is when United’s attention shifted to Hugo Ekitike.
Hugo Ekitike starred for Frankfurt in the 2024/25 season and the German club want to start negotiations at a sky-high price of £85 million.
Fortunately, United have an ace in the pack who could help quicken negotiations to the club’s benefit.
Domenico Tedesco, Head Coach of RB Leipzig speaks with Christopher Vivell, Technical Director of RB Leipzig, May 4, 2022
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
Christopher Vivell’s five-year connection with Frankfurt figure
Ekitike’s underlying figures in a world-class season are probably a big reason why United are so attracted to the player, despite the dreaded Frankfurt striker curse.
However, despite those figures, there is no scenario in which United are able to spend £85 million on a 22-year-old with one bona fide world-class season.
German outlet Bild reports that United are the only club so far to have made contact with the player and his agent, so the interest is concrete.
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What seems to be driving their optimism despite such a tall asking price is the presence of Christopher Vivell, United’s newly permanent Director of Recruitment.
The report states that Vivell is ‘friends’ with Markus Krosche, the Frankfurt Sporting Director, whose relationship with Vivell stretches back to the 2020/21 season.
At the time, Vivell was RB Leipzig’s technical director while Krosche was their sporting director. The report describes the two as ‘close confidants’ of each other.
Man Utd need to re-consider Hugo Ekitike deal
Despite Vivell’s presence and his five-year-long friendship with Krosche, it is unlikely that it will prompt the Frankfurt director to give United a big discount.
The initial price is so much that even a big discount, as unlikely as it is, will only bring the price down to about £70 million or so.
That is still quite a fee for a player with one good season in a team where strikers always seem to flourish, before struggling upon leaving the club.
More importantly, if United do magically have the ability to spend £70 million, then there are better strikers on the market who can be had for that amount.
There’s a player for free who had 37 goal involvements last season, while Victor Osimhen’s release clause is less than £85 million (his wage demands can be covered by exits).
There are just way too many unknowns in Ekitike for a player who will be a marquee acquisition at a position that has been a thorny crown for a long time.
Ace in the pack or not, the red flags around Ekitike are too many to proceed with the deal.