Why Real Madrid could stop Liverpool from signing Hugo Ekitike

The 2025 summer transfer window is set to be a wild west for Premier League clubs.

Several English top-flight outfits, including Liverpool and Arsenal, will be in need of offensive reinforcements.

That may seem a slightly unhinged statement on the Reds’ end, given they’ve registered 80 Premier League goals this term. Only PSG (84), Barcelona (89), and Bayern Munich (90) have bettered this in top-flight games.

With Mo Salah scoring 28 of those goals (35%), however, there’s a clear goal burden in dire need of addressing.

Do Liverpool want to sign Hugo Ekitike?

Hugo Ekitike could perhaps be the man to share the goal burden with Liverpool’s Egyptian King. If reports are to be believed, Ekitike is at least on the shortlist.

The Merseysiders may have to evolve their interest quickly, however, given that Arsenal are also keeping tabs on the situation.

Frustratingly, however, Frankfurt are also pushing to keep their main man in the Bundesliga by dangling a Real Madrid-shaped carrot in front of his nose.

“Arsenal and Liverpool are still interested in Hugo Ekitike,” Christian Falk exclusively informed CaughtOffside in his Fact Files column.

“Frankfurt bosses already assume that he’ll be leaving in the summer. That said, there is hope with the club only one win away from qualifying for Champions League football in 2025/26. With €50m [£42.4m], Frankfurt can budget for the future season, and it would be possible, though challenging, for Ekitike to stay.

“The price tag is €100m [£84.9m]. Internal talk at Frankfurt is that the striker should stay put until he receives an offer from Real Madrid.

“If Frankfurt do make it into the Champions League, the player would only be interested in clubs that also play in the competition.”

Liverpool have a big Darwin Nunez problem

For as much as Liverpool fans may adore Darwin Nunez, it’s become increasingly clear that the Uruguayan doesn’t fit into Arne Slot’s plans.

Consequently, he’s likely to be sold in the upcoming summer window. The good news is that 25-year-old’s likely exit will free up further funds and space in the squad for a top-notch striker.

Critically, the Reds need to bring in someone with a comparable goal contribution rate to their best forwards (Salah and Cody Gakpo).

Players
Goal contributions (all competitions)
Minutes per goal contribution

Mo Salah
56
73.94

Cody Gakpo
23
103.78

Hugo Ekitike
32
105.5

Darwin Nunez
14
137.64

Which striker should Liverpool buy?

The holy grail for sporting director Richard Hughes would, in all probability, be Newcastle’s Alexander Isak.

The 25-year-old Swede has registered a goal contribution once every 95.43 minutes in 2024/25 (all competitions) and has Premier League experience.

His only flaws? There’s some reasonable concern over injury proneness (39 games missed for club and country since 2022/23). Given he’ll likely cost well in excess of the £84.9m it will take to lure Ekitike from Frankfurt, that’s a risk to be taken seriously.

Ideally, he’d also have more Champions League experience. That’ll be necessary for sides like Liverpool and Arsenal with ambitions of reaching the latter stages of the competition.

Hugo Ekitike is much more raw by comparison. But perhaps he’ll be the safer bet from an availability standpoint.