Liverpool have announced that they have agreed a deal to sign Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike, subject to international clearance.
The Premier League champions will pay an initial fee of £69million – plus £10m in add-ons – for Ekitike, 23, who scored 22 goals in 48 games for Eintracht last season.
Though Liverpool held exploratory talks for Alexander Isak earlier this month, Newcastle made it clear the Sweden forward was not for sale unless they received an astronomical offer for their prized possession.
Both Manchester United and Newcastle had also been credited with a strong interest in Ekitike, but the former PSG man had his heart set on a move to Merseyside.
Liverpool have been in contact with Ekitike’s camp since as far back as January and Arne Slot is understood to have held private talks with the Frenchman at the end of last season.
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Ekitike has undergone a medical with the Reds and will jet out to Hong Kong to join his new team-mates on their pre-season tour of Asia later this week.
His official squad number will be revealed later this summer.
As Eintracht grew increasingly resigned to losing Ekitike, the club’s manager, Dino Toppmoller, admitted the loss of their star striker came as a ‘bitter’ blow.
‘He didn’t play, but you can imagine everything else,’ Toppmoller told reporters when asked about Ekitike’s absence in Eintracht’s pre-season friendly with FSV Frankfurt.
‘This is a bitter loss. We lost our absolute top player in the winter with Omar Marmoush joining Manchester City.
‘The other player [Ekitike] stepped in and developed sensationally. But it’s quite possible that that’s history now, too.’
Ekitike’s goalscoring exploits helped Eintracht secure Champions League qualification last term, with the club finishing the Bundesliga campaign in sixth place.
Eintracht stand to make a huge profit on Ekitike, given they signed the attacker for a fee of just £14.3m from PSG – following an initial loan deal – in April 2024.
He becomes the fifth new addition to Slot’s first-team squad this summer, following Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez, Giorgi Mamardashvili and Florian Wirtz through the doors at Anfield.
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