Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak are at the centre of a transfer tussle between Liverpool and Newcastle United.
Liverpool are ready to hijack Newcastle United’s move for Ekitike, while they have also made an approach to sign Isak.
Newcastle do not want to sell Isak and wish to pair him with Eintracht Frankfurt striker Ekitike next season, though they are yet to agree a fee with the German club.
There have been suggestions that Liverpool will move for Ekitike if they cannot sign Isak this summer, which currently feels unlikely.
Still, a recent update would suggest perhaps those at Anfield are not quite as keen on Ekitike as Newcastle.
Hugo Ekitike warms up for an Eintracht Frankfurt match against RB Leipzig.
Photo by Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Liverpool ‘lukewarm’ on signing Hugo Ekitike this summer
According to iNews, some sources are suggesting that Liverpool are ‘lukewarm’ about the idea of signing Ekitike this summer.
That could be good news for Newcastle. If there are any doubts, it’s hard to imagine Arne Slot’s side throwing millions at signing the player simply because they cannot land Isak.
Liverpool are too smart for that. Indeed, Newcastle are willing to pay more than £70million for Ekitike, and it feels hugely unlikely that Liverpool would be prepared to go to that level for a player they may not be fully sure about.
MORE NEWCASTLE STORIES
Hugo Ekitike has already said he’d join Newcastle United if he were to move to England
After rejecting Newcastle for Paris Saint-Germain when leaving Reims in 2022, the striker spoke of his admiration for the Magpies.
Clearly, things could have changed since, but Ekitike said he would have joined Newcastle over any other English club when speaking back in July 2022.
“I’m not setting aside everything Newcastle did for me to come,” he told Le Parisien.
“If I had to go abroad, I would have gone there. But when PSG wants you and you’re French, you can’t refuse.”
Interest from the Premier League champions is not to be sniffed at, however. It’s understandable that either Isak or Ekitike would be open to a move to Anfield.
That doesn’t mean they will end up there this summer, however.