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The Liverpool badge next to Hugo Ekitike(Image: Christof Koepsel/Getty Images)

Liverpool are closing in on the signing of Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt.

As reported by the ECHO on Monday, the Reds have agreed a £79m deal for the 23-year-old French striker, who is set to undergo a medical today.

The Bundesliga side are guaranteed a fee of £69m with a further possible £10m in add-ons that will require success for both Liverpool and Etikite to be achieved.



Should the deal be completed, it will take the Anfield club's spending to almost £300m this summer.

However, The Athletic is now reporting that Manchester United tried to enter the race for Ekitike last week, but the Eintracht Frankfurt attacker had committed to Liverpool.

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Ekitike has already agreed personal terms on a six-year contract that will tie him to the Reds until the summer of 2031.

The forward would become the Reds' seventh signing of the summer transfer window, after Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Armin Pecsi and Freddie Woodman.

The Reds finished 10 points clear of Arsenal and 13 ahead of Manchester City last season and, speaking last month, Alan Shearer believes the Reds' early transfer business puts them in pole position to retain the title.

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"The Milos Kerkez transfer isn't done yet, but you'd imagine that it's going to be done," the former Premier League winner told Betfair.

"They've got Frimpong and, if they get Kerkez and Wirtz - which is looking likely - then that'll be really, really good business from Liverpool.

"It's an incredible amount of money that they're looking at with Florian Wirtz, but he's a really, really talented player, there's no doubt about that.

"Because Liverpool didn't sign anyone last year, other than [Federico] Chiesa, I guess they've got money to spend and they had to do that with Trent [Alexander-Arnold] leaving.

"You could tell from Andy Robertson's interview towards the end of the season that they were going to go in that direction and look at another left-back so, yeah, not surprising, but it could be really good business for Liverpool.

"When you look at the business Man City have completed so far, I don't suspect they're finished either.

Particularly with the money they spent in January and so far this summer, it'll be a really, really interesting summer because we know that Arsenal need to buy a forward to improve.

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"We know that Newcastle are going to invest, so it'll be a really interesting summer, but I'd guess that Liverpool will be the team to chase again."


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