Liverpool has a big summer lying ahead and work is continuing on deals in the background before the transfer window has even opened. Sporting director Richard Hughes has extensive contacts and they are set to come in handy.
Arne Slot has now had a full season to form opinions on his players and the Dutchman will have a clear idea by now of where the strengths and weaknesses lie — as well as how he wants to evolve and take the next step. This year, Liverpool will be much livelier in the market than during the first couple of windows that he was at the helm.
Here is the Liverpool.com verdict on the transfer gossip to emerge around the Reds today. We start with the latest claims on Bundesliga striker Hugo Ekitike, who has been spoken about a lot in the last 24 hours or so.
Hugo Ekitike (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Eintracht Frankfurt striker Ekitike has emerged as a player that Liverpool is said to be chasing, alongside Chelsea. The Stamford Bridge side is going to sign Liam Delap from Ipswich but could get the 22-year-old former PSG ace too.
According to Sky Germany, Liverpool has held talks for Ekitike. Frankfurt wants as much as $113 million (£84 million) for the player, who scored 22 goals in all competitions last season, and a transfer race would increase the likelihood of that being possible.
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Arne Slot and Michael Edwards are both said to be big advocates of Ekitike, with Darwin Nunez or even Diogo Jota being sold as part of the plan to revamp the forward line and bring in the necessary funds. Ekitike is still quite raw but has the ingredients to become a top-level striker under the right guidance.
Liverpool.com says: Ekitike would be a very expensive project, which doesn't seem quite what the Reds need right now. Something that is more of a sure thing and an immediate upgrade would appear more logical from the outside.
Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad)
Liverpool was linked with Takefusa Kubo last summer but was never going to meet his $68 million (£51 million) release clause. Since then, Kubo only scored five La Liga goals this season.
However, he is once again being linked with a move to Anfield. According to the Spanish outlet AS, both Liverpool and Arsenal are interested this summer and Kubo is about to change agents, which sometimes means a player is looking for a move.
Liverpool.com says: Kubo is great to watch in terms of his dribbling but he doesn't have the end product required to get anywhere near the Liverpool team ahead of the likes of Mohamed Salah.
It's a high bar, but that is the level required, as Federico Chiesa has found. Anyone signed this summer will have to be absolutely elite... just like Florian Wirtz.