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And soon there will be a much clearer picture as to who will be spearheading the Liverpool attack next season.

This has been a week in which ruminations behind the scenes among recruitment teams at the Reds and beyond were finally backed up by actions as the intrigue over two of Europe's most in-demand strikers rocketed up the agenda.

Sparked by Newcastle United's failed attempt to sign Hugo Ekitike, Liverpool are now the strong favourites and preferred choice of the 23-year-old Frenchman with discussions ongoing over thrashing out a deal with Eintracht Frankfurt worth in excess of £70million.



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For all the talk of it being a powerplay or smokescreen from the Reds to prompt Alexander Isak to agitate for a move away from Newcastle, that Liverpool have progressed so far down the road with the Ekitike deal suggests that appears unlikely.

Ekitike is the man they want - at least most immediately.

Certainly, while yet to make the breakthrough into the French senior national team - he scored a hat-trick for the under-21s against England in a friendly in March - Ekitike's stock has risen considerably since moving to Frankfurt 18 months ago after a frustrating spell at Paris Saint-Germain, who he joined after making waves at Reims.

The forward was key to Frankfurt's run to the Europa League quarter-finals, scoring in the elimination to eventual winners Tottenham Hotspur, and helped them to only a second Champions League qualification.

But the finished article he is not.

Ekitike and club record Liverpool signing Florian Wirtz were among those to have struck the woodwork the most times.

And Ekitike is outperforming Isak at the same age, when the latter had just finished his time at Real Sociedad and was on his way to Newcastle.

So continues the trend of Liverpool looking to the Bundesliga following the capture of Bayer Leverkusen duo Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong already this summer.

And the last three signings made by Jurgen Klopp were from Germany - Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch.

But should Ekitike make the move to Liverpool, he will be hoping to buck a number of trends.

Otherwise, the pickings are somewhat slim, save an honourable but all-too-brief loan spell for Nicolas Anelka in 2002.

At least the big-money arrival of Wirtz earlier in the summer will take the heat off Ekitike should his big-money arrival be confirmed.

The experiences of Darwin Nunez and earlier Andy Carroll are evidence of how a record tag can affect the perception of a Liverpool forward.

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But having romped to the Premier League title ostensibly without a regular recognised central striker, Liverpool are now very much posed to recruit from a position of strength.
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