The next prominent name on the striker market

You are not interested in Jonathan David? Not interested in Benjamin Sesko? Suspicious about Viktor Gyokeres? So why not try to look at Hugo Ekitike, the latest striker caught the sights of European giants?

According to The Athletic, Manchester United has questioned the ability to recruit the striker of Eintracht Frankfurt in recent weeks and Chelsea are also keeping an eye on him. The German team announced that he would not let him leave for less than 100 million euros, which is six times the amount they paid to PSG to own him last year.

It is an unbelievable high price, but Frankfurt has a reasons for tough: they won tickets to the Champions League next season, as well as just earned money from the sale of Randal Kolo Muorni, Willian Pocho to PSG and Omar Marmoush to Manchester City. With 22 goals and 12 ants last season and still have the potential to develop, there is no reason for Frankfurt to sell Ekitike at a cheap price.

1m90 tall, possessing a soft football style, increasingly confident, hard -working and 23 years old, Ekitike is gradually becoming a comprehensive striker that makes big teams unable to ignore.

In 18 months of playing at the Bundesliga, Ekitike has made great progress. He arrived at Frankfurt as a loan in January 2024, after a regular time to sit on PSG under the big shadow of Kylian Mbappe. But at the end of the season, Ekitike began to shine when continuously scoring or creating in the last 5 rounds at the Bundesliga.

After being activated by Frankfurt last summer, Ekitike continued to sublimate and coordinate extremely well with Marmoush in attack. Last season, no team in the top 4 leading European leagues created more opportunities from the counterattacks more than Frankfurt by coach Dino Toppmoller, and Ekitike was an important link in that system.

Ekitike's play style is very suitable for state transfer phases. He owns long stride, good ball, good border and always knows how to appear in time, in the right place in the penalty area. Last season, he was the only striker in the top 5 European tournaments that both had more than 200 touches in the penalty area, both with over 50 balls to this area, a figure proving he both knew how to make the ball and know the end of the opponent when the home team had the opportunity to counterattack.

It can be clearly seen in the ball before Bochum: Ekitike started the situation with a smart phase, leading the ball from the middle of the yard to the border, controlling the ball neatly after a phase of release …

… And horizontally as for teammate Jean-Matteo Bahoya finishes the table.

Ekitike's direct play often makes the opponent not have much time to reorganize the squad. In the match against Braunschweig in August, Ekitike received the ball in the opposite wing, using his power to glide into the penalty area, turned on beautifully with Marmoush and scaled his cheeks outside to create a score. That is the familiar skill of Ekitike: The passes are difficult to perform with high accuracy.

When there is space to speed up, Ekitike's ability to go the ball can make a big difference. In the 24/25 season, only Mbappe is a striker that performs many slopes of 10 meters or more, leading to more finish than Ekitike.

The map shows that Ekitike is very flexible in the area of ​​1/3 at the end of the yard, ready to drift left, right, even back down to receive the ball and pull the ball up. He is very flexible despite having to kick in the highest position in the attack.

At one point, Ekitike played like a winger rather than a real striker. With a slender, tall body and a habit of driving the ball, he is often compared to Alexander Isak, the main striker of Newcastle and Sweden. Both have the ability to create mutations from situations that seem like nothing, wriggle between the opponent and then launch dangerous shots from afar.

Typically, in the match against Bayern Munich: Ekitike received the ball in the position of turning back to the goal, then handled neatly to turn the ball inside, overcome the two defenders and then thrown into the far corner that Manuel Neuer could not reflect.

Also from that familiar left corner, he used to have a left phase in the match against Tottenham, as well as drawing the perfect curve into the Ajax Amsterdam after a beautiful needle string.

Despite possessing an impressive ball skill, Ekitike sometimes makes a wrong decision after beautiful balls, especially when it has just overcome 1, 2 players. As in the ball when he met Leverkusen: He escaped from a pressing phase close to the flagpole with an impromptu shadow, then used the power to rush into the penalty area. But instead of crossing the teammates in an empty position, Ekitike tried to finish in a loss of balance, causing the opportunity to be missed.

This is a problem that can be completely improved, but the excitement after a good breakthrough sometimes makes him hurry. The finish rate of the last season was only 40%, much lower than the leading strikers in Europe.

However, in counterattack situations, Ekitike is still an extremely sharp spearhead. Easy to understand when Man United cares about Ekitike, especially when coach Ruben Amorim prefers a high -style model, can play independently at the top, stretching the opponent's defense and connecting the routes. His energy -rich play style may be suitable for Bruno Fernandes, who always look for quick launch passes upwards.

In addition, Liverpool can also join if parting with Darwin Nunez. A high pressing system, speedy counterattack like Liverpool is clearly suitable for strikers like Ekitike. If there is anything that makes Man United make decisions early, then it will be the fear of being “skimming” by the opponent.

Many people mistakenly think Ekitike is only good at dribbling or playing in the empty space, but in fact he is very sharp in the area of ​​1/3 at the end of the yard. Skilled personal techniques allow him to quickly coordinate with the penalty area. The ability to manage under pressure and sophistication in the processing phase also helps Ekitike have unexpected touches.

Before Monchengladbach, he rushed into the penalty area before jerking the heel to create the skill for his teammates to score. Before Bremen, Ekitike initially intended to get into the column near the cross. But when Nathaniel Brown's pass was slightly deflected, he stopped, adjusted the run and cleared the Mario Gotze. All in just a few handling beats, in addition he also used the body to cover the body very well to not lose the ball.

Before Hoffenheim, he had a great deal in a counterattack. When Marrooush was right, Ekitike stepped back to receive the ball and then turned the hip to the correct touch for Hugo Larsson to finish.

Although his handling sometimes seems “artist”, the intelligence in Ekitike's movement and coordination is undeniable. When he invaded the penalty area, the speed and instinct of goalscores helped him always go ahead of the defender. In the 24/25 season, only Mbappe, Lewandowski, Raphinha and Salah are creating more XG and XAG than Ekitike, a statistic that shows the double threat he brings.

Looking at the finishing map, it is easy to see that Ekitike is a true “predator” within 5m50 when scoring up to 8 goals from the header, ball cushion and even the chance to lighten the opportunity at the right time.

It is worth noting that Hugo Ekitike carefully analyzes, that he is often less than the goal rate (XG).

Although his output figures are impressive in a Frankfurt team built to maximize the counterattack style, there is still a bit of concern about whether Ekitike's finishing technique is stable enough to ensure the long -term goalscorer, especially when he is no longer given many clear opportunities as currently.

Ekitike is not a striker with a “assassin” finish. Sometimes he launched a dangerous kick and scored. But there was no shortage of the situation he could not rotate in accordance with the orbit.

For example, in the match against Gladbach, the ball is right at the foot of Ekitike. For a tall player like him, adjusting the body in a narrow space is a challenge. Although still trying to finish, the kick lacks power and does not make it difficult for the opponent's goalkeeper.

If you put Ekitike in a team that controls the ball and attacks more structured, where the striker is not free to move, the ability to lighten the opportunity, instinctively finish in the narrow space will become more important than ever. It was not the stable strength of Ekitike.

He rarely confronted the defensive defense, a popular defense in the Premier League. In such matches, Ekitike does not have a clear advantage like his former teammate Marrooush, who has a good shot and extremely good corner.

The gameplay on the goal of Ekitike is generally okay. He kept the ball, knowing how to make a wall with a single touch or release the ball simply to connect to the back line. However, if you switch to Chelsea, unless you are winged or played with Liam Delap, Ekitike may be “framed” in the traditional striker role. That will lose the free and soaring substance that is the biggest identity in his gameplay.

In the most prolific state, Ekitike is like a pitch artist: He moves gently throughout the last third of the yard, crossing the wings, backing down as well as attacking space. All are very elegant, soft, what few people think of in a player up to 1m90 high. But obviously, he is most dangerous when there is space, is allowed to move flexibly according to inspiration instead of being bound.

Another season in Frankfurt can help Ekitike Trui forge finishing skills, increase stability and prove that he is a level to adapt to larger tournaments.

According to the New York Times