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Hugo Ekitike is close to joining Liverpool from Eintracht Frankfurt, having touched down in London to undergo his medical.

The Premier League champions agreed an initial £69m deal with Frankfurt to sign the 23-year-old.

The fee could rise to a potential £79m with add-ons.

Ekitike will put pen to paper on a six-year deal after completing the formalities.

The Frenchman did not feature for Frankfurt in their 3-2 win over city neighbours FSV Frankfurt over the weekend and was subsequently left out of the club’s squad for their pre-season tour of the United States.

He, alongside a number of players, has been ‘released for talks with other clubs’.

A club statement read: “Junior Dina Ebimbe, Aurelio Buta, Hrvoje Smolcic, Mo Dahoud and Hugo Ekitike have been released for talks with other clubs and will not travel to the training camp.”

After the game, Frankfurt head coach Dino Toppmoller described Ekitike’s impending transfer to Liverpool as a “bitter loss.’

“He didn’t play, but you can imagine everything else,” said Toppmoller via Sky Sports Germany.

It’s quite possible that that’s history, too.

“So I think we need to temper expectations a bit overall.”

The France youth international instead travelled to the United Kingdom together with his agent, Karl Mwalako, on Tuesday morning to undergo his medical ahead of completing the switch to Anfield.

Liverpool arrived in Hong Kong for the start of their pre-season tour on Monday.

Arne Slot’s side will take on AC Milan at Kai Tak Sports Park on Saturday, before flying to Japan to lock horns with Yokohama F?

Marinos.

This will be their second and final game of their tour at the Nissan Stadium on Wednesday, July 30.

The Reds trained on Tuesday, over in Hong Kong, as they had their first on-pitch training session ahead of this weekend’s friendly.

According to L’Équipe, once Ekitike completes his medical, he will join his new Liverpool teammates on tour in Hong Kong on Wednesday evening.

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