Liverpool have signed French forward, Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt in a £79m transfer.
Ekitike had been the subject of interest from Newcastle as a potential partner to Alexander Isak who in-turn had been eyed up by Liverpool, but Newcastle’s stance on Isak’s unavailability for sale forced Liverpool to splash £69m fixed fee plus £10m in add-ons on Ekitike rather than pay a six-figure fee for Isak.
Newcastle had previously shown an interest in Ekitike in 2022 but he rejected their advances to secure a move to PSG, before the Magpies this time walked away due to Liverpool’s willingness to create a bidding war following confirmation that Isak wasn’t for sale.
The 23-year-old has signed a six-year contract until June 2031 in a move which has seen his 18-month spell at Eintracht Frankfurt come to an end, having scored 26 goals in 64 appearances.
Ekitike began his career at Cormontreuil FC in north-eastern France before he moved to Reims where he graduated into their senior squad in October 2020, during which he went on to score 11 goals in 28 appearances.
The youngster spent the second half of the 2020-21 season on loan at Denmark’s Vejle Boldklub in which he netted three goals in 11 appearances, before his breakthrough campaign at Reims.
July 2022 saw Ekitike secure an initial season-long loan to PSG where he netted four goals in 32 appearances which saw the club complete a permanent transfer, but a change of manager from Christopher Galtier to Luis Enrique saw Ekitike fall out of favour with just one appearance in the 23-24 season.
PSG subsequently loaned Ekitike to Frankfurt in February 2024 which became permanent that summer after he netted four goals in 16 appearances on loan, which proved a springboard for the 23 year-old to enjoy his best season of senior football with 15 goals and eight assists in Bundesliga alone.