Liverpool open dialogue to sign £85m striker

FSG weren’t lying when they said they were going to spend big this summer. Liverpool fans needed to buckle up ahead of the summer transfer window, with the Anfield side having crossed the £200m mark before even reaching July.

The club’s full-back problems have been resolved through acquisitions of Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, and sporting director Richard Hughes has also overseen the shattering of Liverpool’s transfer record by signing Florian Wirtz for £100m plus £16m in add-ons, which will make the German the most expensive player in British history.

Liverpool aren’t done yet. While Jarell Quansah’s summer sale to Bayer Leverkusen will open up space in central defence, and Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi is the centre of ongoing talks, many fans would point toward the front of the ship as the area most in need of a brush-up.

If and when Napoli sign the unconvincing Darwin Nunez, Hughes will be expected to find a focal frontman to lead the line for the Premier League champions next season and beyond.

What’s the latest on Hugo Ekitike

Liverpool need a striker, and the man signed come autumn may turn out to be Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike.

The French forward, 23, enjoyed a tremendous breakout year in Germany, leading analyst Ben Mattinson to dub him “one of the best strikers out there.”

Liverpool have been getting ready to bid for the forward for a while, but FSG are understandably hesitant given Die Adler’s £85m valuation of their star man.

This is considerably more affordable than Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak, who could set a successful suitor back £200m this summer, but still rather high for a club having already forked out bucketloads on fresh talents.

So then, who to go for? Well, Ekitike’s good, as the graphic above illustrates, but he’s not as complete and refined as another transfer target who would require a far more modest outlay.

Liverpool hold talks for Ekitike alternative

As per Caught Offside, Liverpool are still in the race for Sporting CP sensation Viktor Gyokeres, who will almost certainly leave Portugal this summer after a breakdown in relationships at his outfit.

In fact, the Reds are among the sides to have opened a dialogue with Sporting, seeking information on the marksman as he prepares to leave the club.

Arsenal and Manchester United appear to have the edge in the race, but if Liverpool raise their intrigue, there’s every chance Arne Slot could secure a top-class marksman for 2025/26.

Gyokeres will be available for a fee lower than his €100m (£85m) release clause, with the Liga Portugal champions hoping to bank €80m (£68m) for their number nine’s sale.

What Viktor Gyokeres would bring to Liverpool

While £68m is a rather hefty figure, Gyokeres’ performances over the past couple of years suggest Liverpool would receive bang for their buck.

After joining the Portuguese side from Coventry City in the Championship for around £20m two years ago, the Sweden striker has grown into his skin as one of Europe’s leading goalscorers, posting 97 strikes across 102 matches for the Leões, assisting 28 goals too.

While the Portuguese top division isn’t the highest in overall quality, that’s not to say that Gyokeres hasn’t proved his worth, with the levels of his clinical shooting underscoring his place among Europe’s elite. Indeed, the “lethal” forward has been described as “the best finisher in the world” by football statistician Spencer Mossman.

Ekitike has a high ceiling, all right, but he’s not yet the finished product, and we’ve seen plenty of rising stars not quite reach their potential when making the cosmic leap into the Premier League, where the hard graft only just begins.

Looking at the pairings’ contrasted statistics across the 2024/25 league campaign, Gyokeres for Sporting and Ekitike in Germany for Frankfurt, it may well be that Liverpool should go for the more experienced man.

Like Ekitike, the 27-year-old is dynamic in his performances, dribbling at a frequent rate, getting stuck in with duels and providing creative support for his teammates, but he’s also far more prolific and less profligate when placed into a goalscoring radius.

Moreover, he ranked among the top 12% of forwards in the Champions League last term for goal contributions, the top 10% for shot-creating actions and the top 6% for progressive carries per 90, as per FBref, emphasising his ability to do it on the biggest stage.

Of course, a blunter illustration would be his emphatic hat-trick against Manchester City, picking Pep Guardiola’s side apart last November.

Ultimately, Liverpool know they should manage to secure themselves an upgrade on Nunez this summer, the Uruguayan only scoring seven times for Slot all season, but it’s important for FSG to pick the right man.

Gyokeres might not be the youngest on the block, but he’s still got many years of reliable service ahead of him and would surely provide Liverpool with a reliable scoring presence, settled as he would be among some of Europe’s most devastating and dynamic forwards in Wirtz and Salah, and more besides.

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