‘Evolving into a complete forward’ – Journalist claims Liverpool could sign a ‘menace’ in Ekitike | OneFootball

In Hugo Ekitike, Liverpool are on the cusp of signing a ‘menace’ of a player who’s capable of ‘evolving into a complete forward’.

That’s according to one Bundesliga expert who’s watched the 23-year-old in action many times for Eintracht Frankfurt, who he’s set to leave for the Reds in a transfer which could rise to £78m if all add-ons are triggered, as per Sky Sports.

While not quite as stratospheric as the £116m deal which saw Florian Wirtz come to Anfield last month, it still represents a sizeable outlay from FSG and also reflects the going rate for a striker who scored 22 goals last season while operating in one of Europe’s foremost domestic leagues and also progressed deep into continental competition.

What type of player could Liverpool be getting in Ekitike?

In a piece for The Athletic detailing the particulars of the proposed transer, German football writer Seb Stafford-Bloor provided Liverpool fans with a detailed analysis of what they can expect from Ekitike once his move to Merseyside is complete.

He wrote that the Frenchman is ‘fast becoming an excellent player’ and can be ‘devastating’ on the counterattack, citing his goal away to Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League in April, adding: ‘Either through the middle or down the left of the attack, he was a menace.’

Stafford-Bloor continued: ‘He seemed to grow into the gaps left by [Omar] Marmoush, becoming more central to Frankfurt’s attacking game in the new year. In addition, while most obviously a technical player, he can be a formidable penalty box target, too, and has shown an aerial presence that can take defenders by surprise.

‘Combine that with his capacity to beat defenders one-on-one, either through speed or skill, and you have the portrait of a player evolving into a complete forward.’

The only points of weakness which were mentioned were a need to ‘become more efficient’ and a tendency for ‘snatching at chances’, but he still has ample time in his career to work on such imperfections to his game.

That explains why Ekitike could cost as much as £78m

Some Liverpool fans on social media have questioned the scale of the fee for Ekitike, but in today’s market, a 23-year-old striker who’s proven that he can score goals at a high level in Europe – and who appears to be far more than a mere tap-in merchant, juding by Stafford-Bloor’s analysis – could justifiably fetch upwards of £70m.

It isn’t just his scoring return from 2024/25 which has convinced the Reds to spend big on him, either. As per FBref, he ranked among the top 10% of centre-forwards in Europe’s five main leagues last season with his match averages for shots, assists, non-penalty xG, shot-creating actions, progressive carries and successful take-ons.

(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

That highlights Ekitike as a striker who – in addition to that all-important ability to score consistently – is also proficient at dropping back to create chances for his teammates and scaring the living daylights out of opposition defenders with his ball-carrying prowess.

An xG underperformance of 6.6 in the Bundesliga (FBref) is something to work on, but that number also indicates his innate sense for getting into goalscoring positions. With a bit more refinement, he could go from a 20-goal per season forward into one nearing (or maybe even exceeding) the 30-goal mark.

That Eintracht Frankfurt boss Dino Toppmoller referred to the Frenchman’s impending exit as a ‘bitter loss‘ to his team sums up how sorely his departure is set to be felt at Deutsche Bank Park, and how much of an asset Liverpool could be about to bring in to bolster their Premier League-winning squad.

If the prospective £78m man can consistently showcase the qualities that Stafford-Bloor highlighted, any questions over the fee will be well and truly answered, just as they were with the game-changing acquisitions of Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk for broadly similar sums.