“Unreal” talent hands in transfer request to join Liverpool

Liverpool have forked out over £200m on new first-team signings this summer, and there’s more still to come from sporting director Richard Hughes, whose task is a significant one.

Last summer, the former Bournemouth technical director came under fire for his supposed hesitance in the transfer market. Liverpool had clawed their way back into the Champions League and had won the Carabao Cup, but Jurgen Klopp had managed his last and signings were needed, were they not?

But Federico Chiesa was the only man added to the ranks, joining from Juventus for a cut-price £12.5m (aside from Giorgi Mamarashvili, who has now completed his £29m move from Valencia after spending the 2024/25 campaign back on loan with the La Liga side).

But Hughes’ long-term plan was vindicated when Arne Slot led Liverpool to the Premier League in his first season, almost nine years after Klopp replaced a bruised Brendan Rodgers.

The Reds finished ten points ahead of second-place Arsenal, and now they are showing their hand; now they are spending. Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez have reshaped the squad – and there’s more still to come.

The latest Liverpool transfer news

Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez remain the most likely Liverpool stars to complete high-profile exits, with the former coveted by Barcelona and Bayern Munich, the latter by the Saudi Pro League.

Liverpool want to sell Nunez, who hasn’t worked out three years on from his big-money move from Benfica. Diaz, however, is set to stay put unless a mammoth bid comes in.

Should the Merseysiders be roped into selling, however, they want to set themselves up. As such, Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon has been earmarked, one year after a saga emerged concerning the Magpies winger and the Reds.

Rodrygo, otherwise, would be the dream, albeit the Brazilian is worth €100m (£85m) and is fixed in Arsenal’s sights.

Who knows which way the wind will blow with those murmurings? However, Nunez is set to leave, and Liverpool had wanted another Newcastle sensation to replace him: Alexander Isak.

However, the Toon closed that door, and Liverpool have instead moved for another, and he wants to join.

Liverpool on the brink of signing

According to Sport BILD, Liverpool are edging closer toward signing Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike, though the German club are holding out for €100m (£85m).

However, the French forward wants to sign for the Anfield side and has even submitted an official transfer request to manoeuvre the discussions into the closing stages.

Personal terms are all but finalised, no problem there. However, the outfits need to iron out the details, with an official proposal now imminent.

The 23-year-old should sign as Liverpool’s new number nine, and in doing so, may emulate Virgil van Dijk, in a sense.

Why Liverpool are signing Hugo Ekitike

It’s not over till the fat lady sings. A saying that’s well worth remembering in football. Take Van Dijk. Liverpool signed him for £75m in late December 2017 – some Christmas present, that.

But months earlier, Liverpool had been left hot under the collar after Southampton put paid to their advances, ending the building saga in June 2017 after an alleged illegal approach. FSG apologised for “any misunderstanding” and put their bid on hold.

But Van Dijk had caught a whiff of Klopp’s project and was sold. Well, he was several months on, in any case. The Netherlands international handed in a transfer request later in the 2017 summer window and informed Saints he wanted to sign for Liverpool.

The rest is history, with Van Dijk, now 34, one of the most decorated and accomplished defenders of his generation. Ekitike is no doubt eager to take a leaf from the centre-back’s book, having established himself in the Bundesliga, posting 40 goal contributions from 64 matches in a season-and-a-half with Frankfurt.

Make no mistake, we’re not claiming Ekitike will be utilising his 6 feet and 3 inches to protect the box, rocketing up with steely headers and flying this way and that with tough challenges. This, clearly, isn’t Slot’s Van Dijk heir.

But there’s a pattern to the respective deals which highlights FSG’s method, having identified one of Europe’s most exciting up-and-comers and spent the big bucks on reeling him over to Anfield.

Early into his career, Ekitike – described as “unreal” by analyst Ben Mattinson – has demonstrated growth and ability, which has already led to a €35m (£30m) transfer from Reims to Paris Saint-Germain.

Sure, Isak would have been nice. The 25-year-old is, after all, “the best striker in the world”, as analyst Raj Chohan put it last season, but Hughes’ contacts with Newcastle turned up nought. We’d have been looking at something in the £200m ballpark, which is a nonsensical figure.

But in Ekitike, Liverpool have a rising phenom, the perfect profile. He’s mobile, slippery and intelligent, a fierce and constant pepperer of the goal. His finishing leaves something to be desired, but this can be worked on. FBref record that Isak is one of his most statistically comparable players, after all.

Journalist Graeme Bailey has even called the France talent “the next Mbappe”, with his creativity, pace and dynamism making him more than just a player of French likeness.

Was Van Dijk the finished product when he first alighted in Liverpool? Were the detractors not vocal in their scorn? Liverpool paid over the odds for some half-decent defender, they claimed.

The Reds skipper is now considered one of the finest players of his generation, one of many cases of FSG’s data department coming up trumps.

With Ekitike, they may well strike gold once again.