- French forward snapped up from 法蘭克福
- Reds crunched the numbers before completing deal
- Has been joined at Anfield by record signing Isak
The Reds found themselves in the market for more firepower during the summer of 2025. Alexander Isak was always their top target, and the Swedish striker eventually made his way to Anfield on deadline day after a protracted transfer chase.
Isak arrived on Merseyside as the most expensive player in British football, with said deal set to be worth £125 million ($170m). 利物浦 already had another forward on their books by that point, with Ekitike joining from Eintracht Frankfurt for £79m ($107m).
He has impressed early in the 2025-26 campaign, with his goal account being opened in the 社區盾杯 before going on to register Premier League efforts against 伯恩茅斯 and Liverpool. Ekitike found the target on 22 occasions for Eintracht last season.
His return of 15 德甲聯賽 goals was considered to be on the low side, given that said return fell 6.6 under his xG numbers, but 運動員 reports that “underlying data from director of research Will Spearman convinced Liverpool to take the plunge”.
That is because statistics “showed that 埃爾林·哈蘭德 and Kylian Mbappe were the only strikers to have shown greater potential at a comparable age”. Ekitike, who has already graced the books at 法甲聯賽 giants 巴黎聖日耳曼, only turned 23 over the summer.
While he struggled to produce his best at PSG, “senior Anfield figures saw parallels with Philippe Coutinho’s time at 國際米蘭 and Ryan Gravenberch’s unhappy spell at Bayern”. Liverpool believe that Arne Slot can “elevate him to the next level”.
The Reds also see Ekitike as a “multi-functional attacker given his ability to play as a No 9, second striker, or off the left flank”, meaning that it will not be a straight fight between him and Isak to lead the line in Premier League, 冠軍聯賽 and domestic cup competition.
