Liverpool confirm £79m Hugo Ekitike signing from Eintracht Frankfurt | OneFootball

Liverpool have officially completed the signing of Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt in a deal worth £69 million, rising to £79m with add-ons.

The 23-year-old forward has passed a medical and agreed personal terms. He will now travel to Asia to join Arne Slot’s squad on their pre-season tour, pending international clearance.

Ekitike becomes Liverpool’s fifth major signing of the summer, following Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and Giorgi Mamardashvili.

The deal takes the club’s summer spending to nearly £300m.

Liverpool have tracked Ekitike since his breakthrough season at Reims in 2021-22. Although he struggled at PSG, his move to Frankfurt in January 2024 reignited his career.

He scored 15 Bundesliga goals last season and 22 in all competitions.

Liverpool’s pursuit of Ekitike began in earnest in January. Their interest accelerated in recent weeks after Newcastle made a £70m offer that Frankfurt rejected.

Ekitike preferred a move to Liverpool and informed Frankfurt of his intentions. The club submitted their first formal bid last week. That was rejected, but negotiations quickly progressed.

Frankfurt accepted a second offer on Monday. Ekitike underwent a medical in London on Tuesday and is now set to join Liverpool’s training camp in Hong Kong later this week.

Frankfurt had hoped to keep Ekitike for another season, but Liverpool’s proposal proved decisive.

The Bundesliga club have now made significant profit on another high-profile sale, following the departures of Randal Kolo Muani, Omar Marmoush and Willian Pacho.

Liverpool’s recruitment team, led by sporting director Richard Hughes and director of research Will Spearman, were convinced by Ekitike’s underlying metrics.

They believe he has the potential to develop into one of Europe’s top centre-forwards.