All week, we have been told that Newcastle are still pushing for Hugo Ekitike and making progress on a deal to sign the Frankfurt star.
Despite this supposed ‘power play’ from Liverpool of “if you don’t give us Isak, we’ll sign Ekitike”, it seems Newcastle remain determined to sign the Frenchman and won’t be bullied into backing down on Isak or walking away from Ekitike.
Sky Germany reported earlier today that we’ve held positive talks with Ekitike’s camp and made ‘significant progress’ in our pursuit of the 23-year-old, adding that an improved bid is imminent after our first offer worth just under £70m was rejected.
To me, it is very clear that Liverpool are all in for Isak. He’s the one they want, but they can’t have him unless they stump up an outrageous fee well above the £120m proposal sent our way. And even then Newcastle might stand firm.
Then comes tonight’s update from Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg; the same journalist who was reporting earlier today that Newcastle are moving closer to a breakthrough.
He writes – ‘Understand Liverpool are willing to pay more than what Newcastle have offered for Hugo Ekitike, and Eintracht Frankfurt have been informed about it.’
‘There is no agreement between Newcastle and Frankfurt yet, despite advanced talks between Newcastle and the Ekitike camp.’
This feels like the sort of ‘update’ you can see straight through from Newcastle United perspective.
If Liverpool want him, they know what to do – make a bid. But they aren’t, they are just threatening to. If this is part of their ‘power play’, it feels a little weak and leaves Newcastle with the stronger hand.
I may be wrong, but I think Liverpool know Ekitike to Newcastle is advancing and they are doing all they can (without actually bidding) to make Frankfurt hold back on agreeing a deal with us.
They won’t want Newcastle to have the upper hand – we’d have them over a barrel with Isak if we got to Ekitike first – and it’s clear we’ve done a lot of work on landing the Frenchman over the past week, with Sky’s Keith Downie revealing talks in Germany last week and an invite to Austria for his reps on Monday.
I’d suggest that this continued and serious interest, along with our £70m bid rejected by Frankfurt, is a sign we are confident the player would join.
Frankfurt could be encouraged to hold off agreeing a quick deal with Newcastle if they are made to believe bigger offers are coming, but it’s all talk from Liverpool’s side at this point. If Ekitike isn’t convinced Liverpool REALLY want him, this could be a factor that’s maintaining Newcastle’s encouragement on the player’s side.
So, for me, in this complex and exhausting mini saga, four things will be key in the coming days:
Will Liverpool actually bid for Ekitike?
Who will Ekitike pick if they do?
Will Frankfurt deal quickly or encourage a bidding war?
What will be Isak’s next move in all of this?