Chelsea have allowed Premier League rivals Liverpool a window to get back in the race for Eintracht Frankurt striker Hugo Ekitike, according to reports.
The Blues and the Reds are both desperate to bring in a new centre-forward in the summer transfer window with a lack of top-class strikers around.
The player both sides seem to have identified as their top target is Frankfurt’s Ekitike after the France Under-21 international contributed 22 goals and 11 assists in 47 appearances this season.
That has drawn admiring glances from all over Europe but Chelsea and Liverpool seem to be the two clubs making the most concrete efforts to sign him.
Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg claimed at the end of May that Liverpool’s ‘next big target’ after they wrap up deals for Florian Wirtz and Milos Kerkez is Ekitike.
Plettenberg wrote on X: ‘The next big target from the Bundesliga: Understand FC Liverpool are now seriously in the race for Hugo #Ekitike! Talks have taken place. Slot/Edwards keen on him. The biggest rival at the moment: Chelsea. Eintracht Frankfurt have not yet received an offer. Markus Krösche still demand €100 million. #LFC #CFC.’
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But that was followed up by claims that Chelsea ‘hold the best cards’ to sign the Frenchman with Liverpool wrapped up attempting to complete other big-money deals.
Bild* journalist Christian Falk told *Caught Offside: ‘Chelsea hold the advantage over Liverpool for Hugo Ekitiké. Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal were previously considered the top favourites for Hugo Ekitiké. But the three-man competition has now turned into a two-club battle.
‘At the moment, Chelsea, who qualified for the Champions League in fourth place, hold the best cards in the Ekitiké poker. Chelsea are already in dialogue with the player’s side and could soon get serious. But Liverpool are also still in the race, despite the upcoming record transfer of Florian Wirtz.’
And now a report in German newspaper Bild insist that Chelsea are ‘suddenly hesitating’ in the race to sign Ekitike in a boost to Liverpool’s chances of signing the striker.
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It is understood that ‘no Chelsea official contacted Eintracht or even put forward an offer’ as of the start of the weekend and that the Blues’ ‘top brass are apparently still discussing’.
The transfer ‘is a top priority’ for Chelsea with co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali ‘likely to be involved in potential negotiations’ but the Blues ‘are currently hesitant’.
That is due to Frankfurt’s high valuation of €100m as Chelsea ‘sees the Frenchman more in the €80 million range’ – a €20m (£17m) gap in their valuations – and the Blues ‘have other stars on their wishlist’ if a deal can’t be struck.
Chelsea’s delay could allow Liverpool to come back into the race as it has been reported that a sale of Darwin Nunez or Diogo Jota is key for the Reds to push forward their plans to sign Ekitike.
And Bild claim that Liverpool ‘must first complete the mega-deal’ of Bayer Leverkusen attacking midfielder Wirtz to Anfield before they can pursue Ekitike.