Liverpool have been thrilled with Hugo Ekitike\u2019s influence since his summer arrival, though the \u00a379 million transfer has had ripple effects elsewhere. The Reds secured the French forward from Eintracht Frankfurt after a busy window that saw them spend over \u00a3450 million overall.<\/p>\n
Ekitike, who impressed with 26 goals and 14 assists in 64 appearances for Frankfurt, attracted strong Premier League interest before Liverpool beat Newcastle to his signature. Since joining, the 23-year-old has already started to justify his hefty \u00a369m (\u20ac80m) fee plus \u00a310m (\u20ac12.5m) in add-ons, scoring six goals and providing one assist in 15 games to become Arne Slot\u2019s first-choice striker ahead of Alexander Isak.<\/p>\n
While Liverpool celebrate his impact, Frankfurt have had to adapt to life without their former talisman. The Bundesliga side, who finished third last season, also lost Omar Marmoush to Manchester City for \u00a359m in January, after both players ended last season as joint top scorers.<\/p>\n
Frankfurt sporting director Timmo Hardung acknowledged that such departures have taken a toll on the team\u2019s overall strength. \u201cIt\u2019s clear that when you say goodbye to players like Kolo Muani or Ekitike, your quality drops,\u201d he told Gazzetta dello Sport. \u201cYou can\u2019t keep them\u2014there\u2019s little to discuss\u2014no matter how ambitious we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Accepting their role in football\u2019s transfer hierarchy, Frankfurt remain committed to discovering and developing new talent. \u201cThe answer is simple: find and train others,\u201d Hardung explained. \u201cIf you can maintain balance and overcome the challenges at the start of each cycle, you can reproduce success on the pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Currently sitting eighth in the Bundesliga and struggling in Europe with just one win from four Champions League fixtures, Frankfurt continue to focus on long-term player development. \u201cThere\u2019s no secret formula,\u201d Hardung added. \u201cIt\u2019s a team effort\u2014identify young talent, bring them in under the right conditions, make them feel comfortable, and give them space to grow and learn.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Liverpool have been thrilled with Hugo Ekitike\u2019s influence since his summer arrival, though the \u00a379 million transfer has had ripple effects elsewhere. The Reds secured the French forward from Eintracht Frankfurt after a busy window that saw them spend over \u00a3450 million overall. Ekitike, who impressed with 26 goals and 14 assists in 64 appearances …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":53715,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_GettyImages-2244609870.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=53714"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53716,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53714\/revisions\/53716"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/53715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=53714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=53714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=53714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}