Sky reporter: Liverpool have narrowed down transfer search for crucial position to three options | OneFootball

Liverpool have reportedly narrowed down their shortlist for one particular position in Arne Slot’s squad to three candidates.

Amid persistent speculation over the future of Darwin Nunez, the Reds could well be in the market for a new centre-forward this summer, and a couple of names in particular have been steadily linked with the Premier League champions.

The Merseysiders are in a four-way tussle for Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike (Sport Bild), while a move for Alexander Isak isn’t being ruled out if talks over a new contract at Newcastle were to hit a dead end.

Liverpool have three-man striker shortlist

On Monday evening, Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg took to X with the news that Liverpool are now considering three clear options in their pursuit of a new striker in the summer transfer window.

He posted: ‘Liverpool are currently focusing on three concrete options in their search for a new number 9: Hugo Ekitike, Alexander Isak, and Victor Osimhen.

‘#LFC have conducted thorough checks and gathered information on all of them. Ekitike, for example, is very high on the list. The French striker knows that if he moves to Liverpool, he will need to be patient because the club must sell players first.’

(Photos by Alex Grimm, George Wood and Ahmad Mora/Getty Images)

Which of the three are Liverpool likeliest to sign?

Of those three strikers, which would appear to be the best option for the Reds…and who would seem to be the most attainable?

As per FBref, Osimhen had the highest rate of goals per 90 minutes among that trio (0.98), although that’s tempered by him playing in a weaker league with Galatasaray than either Ekitike (0.53) or Isak (0.75).

In terms of the players’ individual scoring returns compared to expected goals, the Swedish marksman comes out on top, overperforming on his xG by 2.7 and also having the best shots-on-target percentage with 43.2%.

However, he was outdone by Ekitike for shot-creating actions per game (3.55 to 3.01), and that ability to get involved in the creation of chances as well as the taking of them will surely resonate with Slot.

The Frenchman would likely cost in the region of £85.6m if Liverpool were to sign him – a sizeable figure, indeed, but still dwarfed by Newcastle’s reported asking price of £120m-£130m for Isak.

Having already broken our club record to sign Florian Wirtz for £116m, a move for any of those three centre-forwards will probably be contingent on raising money from player sales, as Plettenberg has referenced.

Whenever a final decision is made by Richard Hughes, we ought to feel confident that every last detail will have been analysed and that whichever (if any) of the shortlisted trio arrives at Anfield will prove to be the best fit for Slot’s side.