Sky Sports drop Hugo Ekitike Liverpool bombshell after Newcastle United club-record bid
Newcastle United and Liverpool are locked in an intriguing transfer saga involving Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak.
Newcastle have made a move to sign Liverpool target Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt this week, submitting a £69.5million bid which has been rejected.
The Magpies are in advanced talks with Frankfurt but are yet to meet the Bundesliga side’s asking price for the 22-goal striker.
Liverpool also have a strong interest in Ekitike, but it emerged this week that the Premier League champions would make a move to sign Alexander Isak from Newcastle as their first-choice striker target. Failing that, The Reds would then look to swoop in ahead of Newcastle and sign Ekitike.
Newcastle want to sign Ekitike while also keeping hold of Isak in an ambitious transfer move but Liverpool are keen to disrupt those plans one way or the other.
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Sky Sports drop Liverpool & Man Utd Hugo Ekitike bombshell after NUFC bid
In an intriguing update from Sky Sports in Germany, it has been claimed that Liverpool are ready to blow Newcastle’s offer out of the water for Ekitike despite not submitting a formal bid as of yet.
Sky Sports Germany’s Florian Plettenberg wrote: “Understand Liverpool are willing to pay more than what Newcastle have offered for Hugo #Ekitike, and Eintracht Frankfurt have been informed about it.
“There is no agreement between Newcastle and Frankfurt yet, despite advanced talks between Newcastle and the Ekitike camp.
“Manchester United are also still involved and are monitoring the situation closely.”
Manchester United could swoop in and throw a spanner in the works of both Liverpool and Newcastle’s transfer plans regarding Ekitike, but they’d have to act quickly.
Newcastle are in advanced negotiations while Liverpool are ready to strike.
Sky Germany added: “Liverpool FC have reached out to Eintracht Frankfurt in the past 24 hours to once again register their interest in Hugo Ekitike. As reported: If LFC do not manage to get Alexander Isak, they want to go for Ekitike. Eintracht Frankfurt have not reached an agreement with any club so far.
“They are in talks with Newcastle and Liverpool. So far, there has only been one concrete, written offer, from Newcastle.”
Frankfurt value the French striker at around £86million.
Hugo Ekitike explains Newcastle United snub
Newcastle pushed hard to sign Ekitike from Stade de Reims back in 2022 and believed a move was close, only for the player and his representatives to stall a deal and allow Paris Saint-Germain to swoop in.
At the time, it left a sour taste but Newcastle ended up signing Alexander Isak, who has since established himself as one of the best strikers in Europe.
From Ekitike’s point of view at the time as a 19/20-year-old Frenchman, joining a Newcastle side still relatively unproven at the time over the Ligue 1 champions close to home and with Champions League football on offer, it was a no-brainer.
"I had lots of clubs," he told UEFA, addressing Newcastle’s interest at the time. "And Paris' offer arrived. That was that. The next logical step.
“Paris are the biggest club in France right now, winning everything. They had the best players in the world. How could I say no? I told my brother. I said, 'I want to go there straight away'. That's all I told him.”
But the reality was Ekitike was competing with the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi in his only full season in the French capital. As such he rarely got a look in and was limited to just 14 starts, scoring four goals.
He was then frozen out of the squad for his second season, watching Newcastle’s 4-1 win over PSG in the Champions League on television before joining Frankfurt in January 2024.
"Obviously, in terms of longevity, I'm not going to say that my time in Paris was the happiest moment of my life but today, when I look back, I say to myself that maybe it was necessary,” he added. “I've got so many goals. I've got so many things ahead of me that I don't regret breaking my back sometimes. It's all part of my journey and I'm proud of it."