Hugo Ekitike is set to be at the centre of a frantic transfer tug-of-war between Liverpool and Chelsea this summer.
Having secured the signing of Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen, from whom they’re also pushing to land Florian Wirtz, the Reds have their eyes on another prospective raid from the Bundesliga as they seek to win the race for the Eintracht Frankfurt striker.
Florian Plettenberg reported earlier this week that Anfield chiefs have held talks over a potential swoop for the 22-year-old, on whom both Arne Slot and Michael Edwards are keen, which is no surprise when looking at this analysis by Mark Brus for CaughtOffside.
Who currently leads the transfer race for Hugo Ekitike?
In his latest Fact Files column for the Daily Briefing, Christian Falk indicated that a move to Stamford Bridge currently seems the likeliest outcome for Ekitike, although he hasn’t ruled out Liverpool in the chase for the Frenchman.
The Bundesliga insider outlined: ‘Chelsea hold the advantage over Liverpool for Hugo Ekitiké. Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal were previously considered the top favourites for Hugo Ekitiké, but the three-man competition has now turned into a two-club battle.
‘At the moment, Chelsea, who qualified for the Champions League in fourth place, hold the best cards in the Ekitiké poker. Chelsea are already in dialogue with the player’s side and could soon get serious, but Liverpool are also still in the race, despite the upcoming record transfer of Florian Wirtz.’
Liverpool mustn’t give up easily in Ekitike transfer race
Falk’s update suggests that the Blues have been more proactive than their Merseyside counterparts in the pursuit of Ekitike, which could ultimately swing the race in their favour.
However, if it comes down to a straight choice for the player between the two clubs, we’d imagine that he’d rather go to the reigning Premier League champions, where’d he instantly be a first-choice starter, than signing for a club who scraped a top-four finish on the final day of the season and haven’t exactly been poster boys for stability in recent years.
Even if the exit-linked Darwin Nunez were to remain at Liverpool after the summer transfer window, he could plausibly be surpassed in the centre-forward pecking order by the Frenchman if the latter were to join the Reds.
Ekitike helped himself to 22 goals in the recently concluded campaign as he fired Eintracht Frankurt back into the Champions League for next term. By contrast, the Uruguayan scored only seven times for Slot’s side in 2024/25, his lowest seasonal return in his three years at Anfield.
Chelsea appear to be in the driving seat for now, but Richard Hughes mustn’t accept defeat too readily in the pursuit of the 22-year-old. A convincing sales pitch could yet sway him towards Merseyside rather than west London.
