After a great season in Germany, Hugo Ekitike seems to be the next name to move to the Premier League with a record transfer fee.
Newcastle was leading the race for his signature, until Liverpool stepped up their chase of the 23-year-old striker playing for Eintracht Frankfurt.
Liverpool's first choice seemed to be Alexander Isak, but with Newcastle determined not to sell this striker, the attention has shifted to Ekitike.
Both teams are unlikely to have Ekitike and Isak in their squads for next season, but are Liverpool really satisfied with "plan B"?
A move to Liverpool could take Ekitike's career to new heights. With 18 months of playing in the Bundesliga for Frankfurt, he has developed into a more comprehensive player.
Despite winning the Premier League in the 2024-2025 season, coach Arne Slot is determined to increase his force with contracts such as Milos Kerkez, Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong. Notably, two of the three new signings have come from the Bundesliga.
With Federico Chiesa's fitness still a question mark, Darwin Nunez is likely to leave in the summer transfer window of 2025, Liverpool need a new attacking solution to support and compete with Mohamed Salah as well as Cody Gakpo.
The Anfield side have clearly shown their determination when they rejected a £58.6m offer from Bayern Munich for Luis Diaz.
Liverpool may be forced to pay for Ekitike's release fee - believed to be around £86.5 million - but he is still a much cheaper option than Isak.
15 goals have helped Ekitike become the sixth top scorer in the Bundesliga 2024-2025, while only seven players have provided more assists than him. Ranked fourth in the total number of goals (23), he contributed greatly to Frankfurt's best finish in the Bundesliga in the past 13 years and qualifying for the Champions League.
Ekitike ranked seventh in terms of opportunities created from open play in the Bundesliga last season (44), but what really stood out was the possibility of appearing in dangerous areas.
In Europe's top five leagues in 2024-25, among players who have played at least 1,500 minutes, only four - including Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Ekitike - have averaged more than 4 shots per 90 minutes and more than 7 touches in the opposition box per 90 minutes.
Going deeper into the statistics, the Frankfurt striker also stands out in terms of attacking performance in terms of expected goals (xG) excluding penalties and expected assists.
If only considering players who played at least 1,500 minutes in the top 5 European tournaments last season, Ekitike ranked fifth in xG without an average penalty every 90 minutes (0.67) and is in the top 50 in xG assists (0.24). Both of these indicators are superior to Isak.
If they continue to maintain their momentum, Ekitike can completely become a new star at Anfield.
