After Newcastle Withdraws, Liverpool Closes in on Ekitike
Liverpool are close to signing French international Hugo Ekitike, the Eintracht Frankfurt striker, after Newcastle United withdrew from the deal.
Ekitike, 23, has attracted the attention of Premier League clubs after scoring 22 goals in all competitions following his loan move from Paris Saint-Germain to Frankfurt, before activating the option to buy his contract last summer.
Newcastle had been considering signing Ekitike as a potential replacement for Swede Alexander Isak, who also attracted the attention of Europe's top clubs, including Liverpool, but his club wants to sell him for £150 million.
Because of this large sum, Liverpool has now turned their attention to Ekitike, who could leave for £69 million, according to the British news agency (PA). Liverpool, the Premier League champions under Dutch coach Arne Slot, signed German midfielder Florian Wirtz and Dutch defender Jérémy Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen this summer, as well as Hungarian defender Milos Kerkés from Bournemouth. Georgian goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili also joined the team after agreeing to a transfer from Valencia in August. Sky Sports reported last Tuesday that Eintracht Frankfurt had rejected a bid of approximately €69 million (€80 million) from Newcastle United for Ekitike, citing concerns over the financial terms of the deal.