£71m star now wants to leave Liverpool, it’ll free up room for Ekitike

Everyone at Football FanCast is devastated by the tragic passing of Diogo Jota and Andre Silva. We are sending our thoughts and prayers to their friends, families, teammates and loved ones.

Arne Slot was rewarded for his extraordinary debut campaign as Liverpool boss, with FSG green-lighting a wave of exciting signings in the transfer market after the Reds won the Premier League in dominant fashion.

Defenders Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong have shored up the wide flanks with Andy Robertson requiring competition and Trent Alexander-Arnold having signed for Real Madrid, and Florian Wirtz’s British-record £116m move to Merseyside injects genuine world-class quality into Slot’s side.

Giorgi Mamardashvili has also arrived to contest with Alisson Becker between the sticks after his £29m move from Valencia was agreed one year ago; he spent the 2024/25 season back on loan with the Spanish club.

While the Reds have drifted through the past three transfer windows, signing first-team players only nominally, there is now an emphasis on making a wave of signings to consolidate Liverpool’s position at the very top of the domestic pile.

And despite the activity, with over £200m already spent, FSG aren’t done yet, with Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike targeted to step in at number nine.

Why Liverpool want Hugo Ekitike

Liverpool have long held an interest in Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, and while he’s the cream of the crop, the Sweden star is valued at £200m, which is quite simply too expensive.

But with Darwin Nunez, 25, being heavily linked with a transfer to Serie A champions Napoli after struggling to adapt to Slot’s tactics at Liverpool, it’s crucial that a striker is signed, and Ekitike would be a fantastic option.

It has been reported that Liverpool’s interest in Ekitike is growing stronger and stronger, sure to crescendo if and when Nunez leaves for another club.

However, the Frankfurt star won’t come cheap. His employers are standing firm on their €100m (£85m) valuation, and with Liverpool having forked out plenty of funds already, they will need to consider whether such financial demands prove viable.

Hugo Ekitike 2024-25 season in numbers (timeless)

Nunez is expected to fetch a decent sum, with Napoli’s opening €55m (£48m) offer rejected, but Ekitike’s arrival could actually see another’s potential move away from Anfield advance toward conclusive stages.

What Ekitike’s arrival would mean for Liverpool

When Liverpool signed Wirtz, they opened up a whole new world of tactical possibilities within Slot’s system. The German international is chiefly a central attacking playmaker, but he’s one of the most robust athletes and silky dribblers in the game, and thus could play out on the left flank when called upon, as he did often for Bayer Leverkusen.

The relevance of this is that it eases the potential departure of Luis Diaz, who has been targeted across all far-flung corners of the footballing world this summer, with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and further suitors in Saudi Arabia all keen on snapping him up.

Liverpool have been unequivocal on their stance regarding Diaz: he’s not for sale. However, despite sporting director Richard Hughes’ apparent refusal to engage with the Bundesliga champions, SPORT BILD report the player has informed the Reds that he wants to move to Munich.

The publication go on to state that Liverpool value Diaz at €82m (£71m).

Diaz has entered the penultimate year of his £55k-per-week contract at Anfield, and while Liverpool aren’t sparking discussions for a renewal, they equally don’t want him to leave. Comparatively, Diaz is a modest earner at the outfit, levels below the highest-paid members of Slot’s team.

Liverpool’s Highest First-team Earners
Rank	Player	Gross pay per week	Gross pay per year
1	Mohamed Salah	£400,000	£20,800,000
2	Virgil Van Dijk	£350,000	£18,200,000
3	Florian Wirtz	£195,000	£10,140,000
4	Andrew Robertson	£160,000	£8,320,000
=5	Alexis Mac Allister	£150,000	£7,800,000
=5	Alisson	£150,000	£7,800,000
=5	Ryan Gravenberch	£150,000	£7,800,000
=5	Federico Chiesa	£150,000	£7,800,000
*16	Luis Diaz	£55,000	£2,860,000
Data via Capology

In fairness, considering the 28-year-old’s instrumental role in Liverpool’s success over the past few years, posting 64 goal contributions across 148 matches, and scoring 25 goals and adding eight assists across the trophy-winning 2024/25 campaign, you can see his case.

But then you can understand the situation from Liverpool’s vantage point too: FSG don’t want to renew a player who will turn 30 by the time their original contract expires on vastly superior earnings than before. A new deal would take him well into his 30s, and there are no guarantees that Diaz will perform to the requisite standard, given that his game is so reliant on pace and electric movements.

With Cody Gakpo having gone from strength to strength under Slot’s wing last season, pundit Peter Crouch claiming the Dutchman had “gone up a level” during the recent season.

This, and Nunez’s struggles last season, contributed toward Diaz being utilised by Slot as a makeshift centre-forward, a role he performed with aplomb.

However, if Ekitike arrives, Liverpool will not require Diaz’s services in this manner with the same intensity anymore. The former Paris Saint-Germain prospect’s goalscoring success, as referenced earlier in the piece, would provide the club with the out-and-out frontman they so desire.

Moreover, Ekitike’s dynamism and athletic strengths could see him replace Diaz quite spectacularly. FBref have crunched the data and recorded Ousmane Dembele – a shoo-in for the Ballon d’Or, it seems – as his most comparable player.

And that’s because Ekitike finished the 2024/25 season ranked among the top 4% of positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues for progressive carries and successful take-ons per 90. His pace and power, combined with a developing clinical edge, make him the perfect man for Liverpool.

Diaz has more than played his part on Merseyside, filling Sadio Mane’s unfillable boots and enjoying a trophy-filled stint at Liverpool. But Slot has his eyes on a new talent, and it’s one which might just facilitate his summer transfer to one of the hungry suitors, waiting to pay the Reds the big bucks.