Liverpool signed Hugo Ekitike this summer and the Frenchman has already found his feet but he was close to joining Newcastle United.
The Reds agreed a deal with Eintracht Frankfurt worth £69m (€80m) plus £10m (€12.5m) in add-ons, beating Newcastle to the 23-year-old.
At the time, it appeared as though signing Ekitike would mean not being able to sign Alexander Isak but Liverpool completed a £125m deal on Deadline Day to make the Swede the most expensive player in Premier League history.
Ekitike has already made a strong argument to keep his place in the team with three goals in his opening three games for Arne Slot’s side but Isak will not be happy on the bench.
The Frenchman has already explained that he is not worried about the extra competition up front and prefers to leave the headache to Slot and his staff.
Ekitike on Isak: “When you play for the best teams, you inevitably expect to be competing with the best players.
“Isak is a player I used to watch, so seeing him arrive is a pleasure. It’s going to be tough competition, but I’m going to work hard to be good and perform well so that it’s just the coach’s problem.”
Newcastle United were close to signing Hugo Ekitike before Liverpool swooped in
At one point, it looked as though Liverpool were prepared to let Ekitike join Newcastle United to open the door for Alexander Isak to make his way to Anfield.
The Reds shocked the football world with their lavish spending this summer but signing both Ekitike and Isak is perhaps what surprised the most.
In an interview with Italian news outlet TuttoSport, Ali Barat, Ekitike’s agent, confirmed that Newcastle were very close to signing his client before Liverpool spoiled the party.
“I was working on behalf of Eintracht Frankfurt to bring him to Newcastle,” he said.
“I stayed in Germany for ten days. We agreed on everything with the German club and the footballer, then Liverpool called him and he chose Anfield.”
It has been a recurring trend this summer with Liverpool’s new signings admitting that once Liverpool entered the conversation, their mind was made up.
It’s not the first time in recent years either.
Hugo Ekitike to Anfield reminiscent of how Liverpool gazumped Tottenham to sign Luis Diaz in 2022
Liverpool had been tracking Luis Diaz for a long time before Spurs tried to sign him from Porto in January 2022. The Lily Whites were in talks with Porto and were willing to pay “€45m (£37.6m) up front for Diaz, with an additional €10m (£8.4m)“, per Sky Sports.
Diaz chose Anfield, however, as soon as Liverpool entered the race for the Colombian forward. Ultimately, the Reds paid £37m upfront and an undisclosed amount in add-ons.
Of course, he is now at Bayern Munich but not before winning the FA Cup, Carabao Cup twice and the Premier League. For a three-year stint at Anfield, that’s very impressive.
Liverpool repeated their trick with a swoop for Ekitike once Newcastle were threatening to sign him, and he is showing signs of being as promising as Diaz was for the Reds – if not even more so.
Fans have recently spotted similarities between Ekitike’s playstle and debut compared to Fernando Torress‘ incredible start to life at Liverpool in 2007.
