After the unexpected departure of the striker Diogo Jota, BLD Liverpool reluctantly had to plan to add personnel to the attack, with the leading candidate Hugo Ekitike (Frankfurt).
Before Diogo Jota died, Liverpool narrowed the list of strikers to recruit this summer to 3 names: Hugo Ekitike, Victor Osimhen and Alexander Isak. In particular, Ekitike has become the most reasonable choice in terms of strategy and fee.
However, Liverpool has not decided because the Darwin Nunez to Napoli has not finished, Luis Diaz hesitated to renew, and Federico Chiesa has never been trusted by Slot. Therefore, Liverpool has not boldly accelerated the recruitment of a new striker. But now, everything is forced to change.
JOTA's sudden departure made Liverpool's personnel plan for the 2025/26 season have great fluctuations. Even according to the British press, Slot was forced to urge the BLD to be faster in handling the cases of Nunez, Chiesa, Diaz as well as soon brought him a new striker.
Coach Arne Slot is looking for a striker with a combination of speed, ability to press, fast transfer and contribute to the gameplay. These are the strengths of Ekitike.
The remaining problem is that Frankfurt is asking for about 85 million pounds (100 million euros) for Ekitike. Liverpool aims to protect the Premier League championship and go deep in the UEFA Champions League next season.
Therefore, they will have to have a strong, depth squad to divide their strength on all fronts. So far, Liverpool has recruited 5 rookies, including Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez, and two goalkeepers Armin Pecsi and Freddie Woodman.