Steve Nicol and Frank Leboeuf have been talking the impending transfer of Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt to Liverpool
Liverpool are closing in on the signing of Hugo Ekitike. But a deal that could cost the Premier League champions up to £82m has caused a debate between two Liverpool and Chelsea legends.
The Reds are putting the finishing touches to a second bid they will be hope be sufficient to convince Eintracht Frankfurt to sell the highly-rated young striker.
Frankfurt rejected an offer of £69.4m from Newcastle United last week and want nearer to £86.7m for a player who started his career at Reims and then spent 18 months at Paris Saint-Germain before moving to Germany at the start of 2024.
But Liverpool are hopeful of reaching a compromise in the region of £78m-£82m and believe the finer details of the latest proposal, such as the make-up of add-ons, could soon be completed.
Ekitike has already agreed personal terms with the Reds and it seems a case of when and not if he becomes the third biggest signing in the club’s history after Florian Wirtz, who completed his potentially British transfer record £116m move from Bayer Leverkusen earlier this summer, and Darwin Nunez.
The arrival of the France Under-21 international could lead to the departure of Nunez despite his fine start to pre-season. He helped himself to a hat-trick in a behind-closed-doors friendly with Stoke City at the AXA Training Centre on Sunday (July 20) having also struck in the 3-1 victory at Preston North End.
But it appears that Nunez, who has scored 40 goals in 143 appearances since his club record £85m transfer from Benfica in June 2022, is on his way out of Anfield.
And Chelsea great Frank Leboeuf, who won five major honours during his time at Stamford Bridge, has referenced the Uruguay international’s struggles to live up to his price tag in a debate over Ekitike.
The former centre-back, who won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship with France, was speaking to ESPN FC alongside former Liverpool favourite Steve Nicol, who has no such doubts over the deal
Leboeuf said: “I’m happy for Hugo, for sure, I really hope he’s going to serve Liverpool in the best way and be good enough according to the price that has been paid. But allow me to have some doubts.
“I saw him playing for Paris Saint-Germain. It was complicated because there was (Lionel) Messi, Neymar and (Kylian) Mbappe at that time. But he’s only been good, like a year.
“That price puts a lot of pressure on his shoulders so I would wait and see. I really hope he does well but wait and see. They were warned by the Nunez transfer and now they’re doing the same with Ekitike. He’s been absolutely fantastic and was tremendous last season, but Liverpool and the Premier League is another story, so wait and see.”
Nicol, who won 10 trophies during his decorated 13-year Reds career, interjected: “That’s a little harsh, Frank. Just because you signed a player that doesn’t work out, why should that stop you signing another player? It’s just an example of a warning, so that’s it.
“You’ve got Son Heung-min, (Erling) Haaland came from the Bundesliga – it’s not like players in the Bundesliga don’t have a history of scoring in the Premier League; Bobby Firmino at Liverpool.
“The guy’s 23 years old. If, like (Darwin) Nunez, Ekitike doesn’t pan out, Liverpool are still going to get a big chunk of that money back, the same way they will with Nunez.
“He’s absolutely one of the top strikers in the world right now so you’ve got to pay the going rate. I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out what this guy can’t do. There’s the goals, the set-up play, he can hold up the ball, he can head the ball, he’s got two feet – I can’t find a thing that I can turn around and say, ‘they have to work on this, he needs to work on that’. He’s got every single thing.”
Leboeuf then responded, saying: “I’m sorry to cut you off but when you say I’m being harsh, I’m saying just wait and see.
“That’s the only thing I’ve said. He had a tremendous season last season, but I saw him before at Paris Saint-Germain and, I’m sorry, we saw before players coming from the Bundesliga, having a hard time in the Premier League.
“So, I think I have the right to be, not sceptical, but doubtful about the fact he can settle down and be as successful as last season. I don’t think I’m being harsh saying that.”
Former Scotland star Nicol then said: “He’s 23 years of age and when you’ve got (Cody) Gakpo, (Mohamed) Salah, Wirtz and (Alexis) Mac Allister around you, how can you not progress even further?
“Ekitike, as great as he’s been, is still not the finished article at 23. He’s still got more growth and experience to go, so to have those players around you… this is not Rasmus Hojlund going into Manchester United where nobody is going to help him. Ekitike is going to have the whole club and team helping him out, playing him in in, pushing him forward, and pulling him down if he gets too big for his boots.
“He’s walking into the perfect situation right now – a world-class team that’s going up and surrounded by world-class players who will make him even better than he is.”
And the final word on Ekitike, who scored 22 goals in 48 games for Frankfurst last season, went to Leboeuf, who said: “I don’t want to be that guy who criticises Ekitike because I really like him and I really appreciated what he did last season and if he is as good as he was last season, he’s going to be tremendous, for sure.
“Of course he’s going to be served, but I think Darwin Nunez was served last season and the season before and it didn’t work.
“I really hope Ekitike will be different but before people criticise me on social networks, I love Ekitike! I know how talented he can but I’m just wondering how quickly he will settle down and be better than Darwin Nunez.”