Liverpool set to 'open talks' with IDEAL striker | OneFootball

Interest in Ekitike moves forward

Give Me Sport are reporting that 'Liverpool are preparing to engage in initial discussions over a deal for Eintracht Frankfurt star Hugo Ekitike even though they will need to sanction the departure of fellow frontman Darwin Nunez in order to facilitate a move to Anfield ahead of the new season.'

Furthermore, this has lead 'to the Bundesliga giants being confident that they will secure the entirety of their £86m demands before the transfer window slams shut... GMS sources have been told that Liverpool will not be able to land Ekitike for a cut-price sum as Eintracht Frankfurt have reaffirmed that they will only consider reducing their valuation if it suits them in the final weeks of the window.'

I know, it's a lot to take in, so let's break down the details.

The interest in Ekitike is certainly there, which is positive news. Even though other strikers might be preferred, you have to work with the options available and the Frenchman is a really promising one.

He's only 23-years-old and the 34 goal contributions he delivered last season were impressive.- helping his side to a third place finish in the Bundesliga and a Europa League quarterfinal.

But if we're honest, £86m is a particularly steep asking price, and while Liverpool might feel confident in their ability to lower the price, as they did with Florian Wirtz through negotiating with Leverkusen, this might be a step too far. Frankfurt have all the leverage and Liverpool need him.

If the valuation is set to drop closer to the window's end, then the Reds' bets strategy might be to wait, but that's an incredibly risky call, when the season starts two weeks before the window closes.

Furthermore, there are other options out there beyond Ekitike, but none with more reasonable price tags, unless Michael Edwards has the perfect solution in his spreadsheet that might work instead.

As such, we're in a sticky situation and there isn't a clear and obvious way out. Of course, we can take the positives that we've approach Ekitike, but it's going to be a hard graft securing his services.