Liverpool are honing in on Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike, and his Bundesliga highlight reel offers supporters a glimpse at the No. 9 prospect.
Liverpool ramped up their pursuit of a new No. 9 this week, targeting Alexander Isak before shifting their focus to the 23-year-old Frenchman.
Frankfurt’s asking price is close to his €100 million (£86.6m) release clause, and negotiations have accelerated quickly over a deal in excess of £70 million.
While Liverpool will have done extensive research on the striker, you can be forgiven if your exposure to his talents has been limited, but we’re here to remedy that.
The Bundesliga have kindly collated footage of his debut season in the German topflight, describing the 23-year-old as ‘Europe’s Most Elegant Striker’:
* Link to YouTube video here
The Frenchman scored 22 goals and laid on a further 12 assists in 48 games last season, with no striker aged 23 or under across Europe’s top five leagues scoring more in all competitions.
He is quick off the mark, composed and enjoys pulling out silky moves in possession, including plenty of backheels – although that is something we know Arne Slot is not always a big fan of!
The tall, pacey and technical forward involves himself in buildup play and is comfortable dropping deep before powering forward. You can see his self-confidence throughout the 10-minute highlight reel.
He is stylistically and statistically similar to Isak and thus is the best like-for-like alternative to the Newcastle talisman – though he is not yet the finished product.
The 23-year-old still has development to undertake, including his ability to dominate in the air, but he is an exciting young forward with potential to grow alongside Liverpool’s new signings this summer.
• READ: Why “unselfish” Ekitike would have big “point to prove” at Liverpool
Fan Comments