Liverpool have opened talks with Eintracht Frankfurt to sign Hugo Ekitike.
The club have made their approach after Sky Sports News revealed on Tuesday they were expected to rival Newcastle for the striker.
Sky Sports News understands Newcastle are aware of Liverpool’s interest and reviewing their options.
Liverpool have moved for Ekitike after being told Alexander Isak is not for sale in this window.
The Premier League champions have always been interested in Isak but it is understood Newcastle have no interest in selling their striker and value him at least at £150m.
Watch the pick of Newcastle striker Alexander Isak’s Premier League goals from this season including a stunner at home to Liverpool.
The Reds have been scoping out the market all summer for possible centre-forward options, establishing availability and price – but they have not made an offer for Isak.
Sources on Merseyside insist no formal contact has been made between the clubs, contrary to reports elsewhere.
Newcastle’s £70m bid for Ekitike rejected this week
Sky Sports News reported on Tuesday that Frankfurt rejected Newcastle’s formal £70m bid for Ekitike, with the Bundesliga club valuing the striker at £85m.
Newcastle held talks with Ekitike’s representatives in Austria on Monday, as they look to sign the striker they have kept tabs on for a number of years.
Newcastle tried and failed to sign Ekitike in 2022 when he chose Paris Saint-Germain instead. Frankfurt then paid PSG just £14m for the 23-year-old last summer.
Hugo Ekitike has identical numbers to Alexander Isak
Isak is Newcastle’s current club-record signing after he joined in a £63m deal from Real Sociedad in August 2022.
Ekitike scored 22 goals in 48 games across all competitions last season for Frankfurt as he helped them qualify for the Champions League.
He has been a Manchester United target this summer after the club explored the conditions of a deal, while Chelsea have also been interested along with Liverpool.
Newcastle have spent £55m on one major summer signing so far following the arrival of Anthony Elanga from Nottingham Forest.
Ekitike ready for the next step after Bundesliga breakthrough
Ekitike is also wanted by Newcastle, who have had a club-record bid rejected
Sky Sports’ Adam Bate:
When Hugo Ekitike was still a teenager at Stade Reims, the coaching staff prepared a development plan for him. They analysed the performances of Kylian Mbappe and then picked out two more players that Ekitike might realistically aspire to replicate.
“These were players with similar profiles from teams that were better than our team, but not at the distance Paris Saint-Germain were from us,” Oscar Garcia, Reims’ then head coach, told Sky Sports. “We challenged him to reach the level of the other two strikers.”
On the face of it, that was a perfectly reasonable short-term target. Prior to his final season at Reims, Ekitike had not even scored a goal in France’s top tier. He had spent the second half of the previous campaign on loan at Danish club Vejle Boldklub.
He returned to Reims as the fourth-choice forward but soon forced Oscar to reassess. Soon after that, the two strikers whose level he had been encouraged to hit were no longer in his sights. “Within months, he wanted to reach the same level as Mbappe.”
It is a tale that offers a glimpse into the mindset of the Eintracht Frankfurt forward who has long been linked with a move to the Premier League.
“He always was a talented player but some coaches did not like him because of his profile and sometimes because of his character,” concedes Oscar. “They were thinking he was a little bit arrogant. He always wanted to be compared with the best ones.”
Read more about Hugo Ekitike’s rise here.
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