Hugo Ekitike could soon be a Liverpool player with the Reds closing in on a deal to sign the Eintracht Frankfurt striker.
According to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, a deal worth £82million (€95million) has been agreed between the two clubs for the 23-year-old to move to Anfield. Ekitike is expected to sign a six-year deal with Liverpool and will join new signings Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez, with Giorgi Mamardashvili linking up with the side after agreeing a move last August.
Ekitike initially moved to Frankfurt on loan 18 months ago before completing a permanent switch in the summer from PSG and he scored 15 goals in 31 games to help the club finish third in the German top flight.
From an Arsenal perspective, some supporters may be concerned at how quickly the move has developed, with interest only really becoming apparent a few days ago. The Gunners themselves are yet to sign a new striker despite Mikel Arteta’s want for one to be on the plane this weekend as the squad jetted off to Asia for the pre-season tour.
Viktor Gyokeres is the man the north Londoners want but talks have been ongoing for weeks. football.london reported earlier this week that Arsenal and Sporting had finally come to an agreement on a €73.5million (£63.7million) deal for the striker with €10million (£8.4million) of that fee in add-ons. However, while the overall price has been agreed, the structure and manner in which the add-ons are achieved are the final details that the clubs are trying to iron out.
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It is thought that the Portuguese side reportedly want the add-ons to be near-guaranteed, whereas Arsenal would prefer more challenging criteria to be met. According to Portuguese newspaper Record, as quoted by Sport Witness, talks remain slow and there has been little progress.
Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, Ethan Nwaneri, Reiss Nelson, Kai Havertz, Ismeal Kabia, Max Dowman and Andre Harriman-Annous were the forwards named in Arsenal’s 30-man travelling squad on Saturday. With Gabriel Jesus still recovering from knee surgery, Arsenal’s need for another striker is clear.
Gyokeres, who netted 54 goals in 52 appearances last campaign, could turn Arsenal from title challengers into title winners. But a deal needs to be announced soon, with the 2025/26 season kicking off for Arteta’s side in exactly four weeks. With Liverpool moving quickly for Ekitike, Arsenal must now get a move on and find an agreement for Gyokeres.
