Liverpool gets nightmare transfer update as Real Madrid wants breakout star

Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version from Liverpool.com or go back to LFC Live.

The Reds certainly won't want to sell striker Hugo Ekitike: the 23-year-old Frenchman, bought for around €80 million ($92 million) from Eintracht Frankfurt, was one of the few clear-cut success stories from last summer. Ekitike broke through in French football at Reims as a teenager, scoring 10 league goals in 2021/22 to earn a pricy move to a PSG team already featuring Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, and Neymar.

Hugo Ekitike and Kylian Mbappe both line up for the French national team (Image: Getty Images) He found playing time hard to come by and joined Frankfurt on loan in January 2024. He refound his goalscoring touch — he scored 15 Bundesliga goals last year — to earn a move to Liverpool.

The only true striker in the squad is 22-year-old Gonzalo Garcia, a prolific goalscorer for Madrid's academy sides who is still struggling to find his footing in the first team. Additionally, Ekitike already plays second fiddle to Mbappe on the French national team — Mbappe figues to start on the left wing at this summer's World Cup, with reigning Balon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele slotting through the middle (Ekitike will likely be on the bench).