Liverpool have worrying trend to break after £82m Hugo Ekitike transfer

Liverpool will be desperate for Hugo Ekitike to buck a worrying trend when his impending move to Anfield goes through. The Reds have agreed an £82million deal with Eintracht Frankfurt after hijacking Newcastle's pursuit of the forward, which came to light earlier this month. Ekitike will reportedly sign a six-year deal at Anfield, keeping him there until the summer of 2031.

The young Frenchman has enjoyed a productive spell in Germany, scoring 22 goals in all competitions last season. He will be tasked with leading the line for Liverpool next season as they go in search of back-to-back Premier League titles. It will be important for Ekitike to hit the ground running and prove that he can do the business in England's top flight.

He is the latest in a long line of strikers to have been sold by Frankfurt for a huge amount of money. In recent years, they have made significant profits on the likes of Randal Kolo Muani, Omar Marmoush, Luka Jovic and Sebastian Haller.

However, not many of those players have been successful after leaving the Waldstadion. Kolo Muani joined PSG but has struggled to hold down a regular starting spot and spent last season on loan at Juventus.

Jovic was the biggest flop of them all, scoring just three goals in as many years for Real Madrid after arriving in a £52m deal. He returned to Frankfurt on loan before joining Fiorentina and AC Milan, but now finds himself without a club.

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Haller has also found things difficult since leaving Frankfurt and signing for West Ham United in 2017. He lasted two years at the London Stadium before moving to Ajax, where he rediscovered his form and earned a move to Borussia Dortmund.

The forward was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2022, which disrupted the early part of his time at Signal Iduna Park. He has since made a full recovery and spent the previous campaign on loan at Utrecht.

Meanwhile, the jury is still out on Marmoush, who remains in the early stages of his Manchester City career and is not exactly an out-and-out striker.

History suggests it could be tough for Ekitike to shine at Liverpool, given the failures of his predecessors to carry their form over to new clubs. However, the streak must end at some point and the 23-year-old will be hoping that he is the man to do it.

Regarded as a future star of the French national team, there is plenty of pressure for Ekitike to succeed and he has already drawn comparisons with the likes of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.

Wesley Sneijder was left impressed with the forward's display against Ajax in last season's Europa League, a game he was covering as a pundit.

After the final whistle, the Dutchman said: "I might say something really crazy, but I'll say it anyway... I think he's a mix between Neymar and Mbappe. I sincerely think so.

"He has the grace of Neymar but also the movements of Mbappe. To suddenly accelerate, that's something that Mbappe also has. And he's only 22 years old. There's really a lot of potential in this boy."

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