Hugo Ekitike (not playing for Liverpool for a while)

[Stottie]

2 hours ago, Shadow Puppets said:

Heard an interesting take on this tonight via a WhatsApp group I’m in with a few people who work in football.

 

One of the comments was, “In my opinion, NUFC have leaked the Ekitike bid to draw Liverpool’s attention away from Isak”.
 

By that, they mean that we don’t really want / can’t afford Ekitike, we just want to take all of Isak’s suitors off the table (in this case by scaring Liverpool into making their move for Ekitike). 
 

Interesting viewpoint, not sure if anyone has thought / shared that concept in here yet. No idea if it’s true, but it does make some sense.

 

Some weird shit could be going down if PIF (I doubt its Eddie and the club) actively want to sell Isak, but the player himself can do very little. The Isak "toys out of pram" theory relies on lots of heavy lifting about the gloriousness of Liverpool and non-gloriousness of more successful and glamourous clubs like Real Madrid (15 not 6 CL titles). Reaching 50 goals in 76 games says Isak is an Henry/Aguero level talent. He does not need interest from Liverpool to know this. Everyone else knows it too.

 

All of this bollocks says to Frankfurt that there is absolutely no need to give Liverpool a discount on the Ekitike release clause. If he goes to Liverpool, its for full price because Liverpool are saying they can afford Isak. We could still get Ekitike for less, based on other bids for him, including Liverpool's, being imaginary. There is also no need for Palace to accept low Liverpool bids for Guehi (or Mateta or anyone else). They have just openly said they have 120M and likely far more to spend. 

 

This is Trump level negotiation, not the shrewdness we are constantly told Liverpool are supposed to have.

 

 

[James]

43 minutes ago, Stottie said:

 

Some weird shit could be going down if PIF (I doubt its Eddie and the club) actively want to sell Isak, but the player himself can do very little. The Isak "toys out of pram" theory relies on lots of heavy lifting about the gloriousness of Liverpool and non-gloriousness of more successful and glamourous clubs like Real Madrid (15 not 6 CL titles). Reaching 50 goals in 76 games says Isak is an Henry/Aguero level talent. He does not need interest from Liverpool to know this. Everyone else knows it too.

 

All of this bollocks says to Frankfurt that there is absolutely no need to give Liverpool a discount on the Ekitike release clause. If he goes to Liverpool, its for full price because Liverpool are saying they can afford Isak. We could still get Ekitike for less, based on other bids for him, including Liverpool's, being imaginary. There is also no need for Palace to accept low Liverpool bids for Guehi (or Mateta or anyone else). They have just openly said they have 120M and likely far more to spend. 

 

This is Trump level negotiation, not the shrewdness we are constantly told Liverpool are supposed to have.

 

 

your post assumes normal circumstances, the reality is that Liverpool will rightfully get a PSR exemption from the PL to sign one striker so it won’t affect their other negotiations 

[Ronson333]

5 hours ago, LaurentRobert said:

No one has really mentioned this as an option. Liverpool could just be bluffing their interest in Ekitike to put pressure on us and Isak. If Isak is for sale next summer (which is the most realistic option tbh) are Liverpool really going to splash €100m now on an unproven PL striker they'd ideally want to replace next summer? I have my doubts 

Yep I’m with you on this one, I don’t think they want Ekitike too. They tried to bully us, but if we hold firm and get both, they’ll look like a bunch of plonkers. We might have just beaten them in a game of poker.

 

 

Edited July 16, 2025 by Ronson333

[SteV]

4 hours ago, Shadow Puppets said:

Heard an interesting take on this tonight via a WhatsApp group I’m in with a few people who work in football.

 

One of the comments was, “In my opinion, NUFC have leaked the Ekitike bid to draw Liverpool’s attention away from Isak”.
 

By that, they mean that we don’t really want / can’t afford Ekitike, we just want to take all of Isak’s suitors off the table (in this case by scaring Liverpool into making their move for Ekitike). 
 

Interesting viewpoint, not sure if anyone has thought / shared that concept in here yet. No idea if it’s true, but it does make some sense.

So we’ve pissed about with private jets and speaking to Frankfurt for days, all to mess Liverpool about?

 

Seems extremely far-fetched…

[r0cafella]

Just now, SteV said:

So we’ve pissed about with private jets and speaking to Frankfurt for days, all to mess Liverpool about?

 

Seems extremely far-fetched…

Whoever said it knew they were talking to a NUFC fan

[Ikon]

9 minutes ago, SteV said:

So we’ve pissed about with private jets and speaking to Frankfurt for days, all to mess Liverpool about?

 

Seems extremely far-fetched…

Aye, absolutely no chance imo. 

[HayDen Traces]

6 hours ago, LaurentRobert said:

No one has really mentioned this as an option. Liverpool could just be bluffing their interest in Ekitike to put pressure on us and Isak. If Isak is for sale next summer (which is the most realistic option tbh) are Liverpool really going to splash €100m now on an unproven PL striker they'd ideally want to replace next summer? I have my doubts 

I said this a few pages back

[Whitley mag]

My take we’ll make an improved bid today and we’ll try to accelerate this, we’ll not be kept in our lane by anyone.

[cubaricho]

5 hours ago, Shadow Puppets said:

Heard an interesting take on this tonight via a WhatsApp

[relámpago blanco]

12 hours ago, ExiledGeordie said:

I think he’ll go to a big hitter on the continent next summer, Barca, Real etc 

Yeah and I can live with that. Watch him win multiple champions league and cement his position as the best zCF in world football. I can't stand him going to Liverpool though and their dickhead fans.

[cubaricho]

4 minutes ago, relámpago blanco said:

Yeah and I can live with that. Watch him win multiple champions league and cement his position as the best zCF in world football. I can't stand him going to Liverpool though and their dickhead fans.

You’ll be fine.  

[Dr Venkman]

5 hours ago, r0cafella said:

Yeah I think it's a reach, he's a player we've tracked for a long time and we love returning for a old target. 

 

If we try and sign him and he goes to Liverpool I'm struggling to see the win? I'm over the Mike Ashley years of celebrating keeping our players 

The win might be Isak more likely to sign a new deal?

[Coffee_Johnny]

There is so much ‘noise’ around this. Complicated theories and frankly daft conclusions presented for clicks as if they are coming from some kind of  insider knowledge. What do we know/think is most realistic? 
1. It seems too good to be true that (given how we’ve been shackled by PSR and current needs in other positions CB, CM) that we would spend that much on, effectively, another striker. 
2. Isak’s new contract has been talked about for a couple of months(?). It hasn’t been signed. 

3. Could the Ekitike approach from us be a contingency plan? (In case Alex Isak does do an Andy Cole). 
4. If (3) is true then the Scalvini (or other) and Gallagher purchases may be contingent on the profit and flexibility which would come from swapping our current striker for the player who was the original target before we bought him. 
5. We have, given limited recent expenditure, some outgoings and sponsorship/other income, more PSR headroom than any of us has imagined and we do simply just want and can afford both Isak and Ekitike. 
6. If (5) maybe we will see another forward player leave this or next window. Though given our recent close call (and ‘unwanted’ departures of Minteh and Anderson) I can’t see us chancing balancing the books with future sales. 
 

[Menace]

The audacity of Liverpool acting like they're fucking Real Madrid when they were throwing their toys out of their pram regarding Trent.

 

I honestly hope Isak signs a new contract and we get Ekitike, the cheek of these fuckers.

[KingArthur]

9 minutes ago, Coffee_Johnny said:

There is so much ‘noise’ around this. Complicated theories and frankly daft conclusions presented for clicks as if they are coming from some kind of  insider knowledge. What do we know/think is most realistic? 
1. It seems too good to be true that (given how we’ve been shackled by PSR and current needs in other positions CB, CM) that we would spend that much on, effectively, another striker. 
2. Isak’s new contract has been talked about for a couple of months(?). It hasn’t been signed. 

3. Could the Ekitike approach from us be a contingency plan? (In case Alex Isak does do an Andy Cole). 
4. If (3) is true then the Scalvini (or other) and Gallagher purchases may be contingent on the profit and flexibility which would come from swapping our current striker for the player who was the original target before we bought him. 
5. We have, given limited recent expenditure, some outgoings and sponsorship/other income, more PSR headroom than any of us has imagined and we do simply just want and can afford both Isak and Ekitike. 
6. If (5) maybe we will see another forward player leave this or next window. Though given our recent close call (and ‘unwanted’ departures of Minteh and Anderson) I can’t see us chancing balancing the books with future sales. 
 

2. I recall that Isak's new contract was about to be discussed after this summer.

[Novocastrian]

56 minutes ago, SteV said:

So we’ve pissed about with private jets and speaking to Frankfurt for days, all to mess Liverpool about?

 

Seems extremely far-fetched…

If anything us flirting with Ekitike (meeting agents, talking to EF) is likely to encourage Liverpool as they think we are lining up Isak’s replacement.

[KaKa]

2 minutes ago, Novocastrian said:

If anything us flirting with Ekitike (meeting agents, talking to EF) is likely to encourage Liverpool as they think we are lining up Isak’s replacement.

 

There is a chance they thought the best time to show clear interest was once we were close to securing another striker.

 

No one seems to understand or believe that we are looking to rotate and pair our strikers together at times.

 

The last time both Isak and Wilson had a good run of fitness, they were both playing games and scoring goals, and featured as a tandem a decent amount, and it ultimately fired us into the Champions League.

 

They will soon learn.

[toon25]

1 hour ago, SteV said:

So we’ve pissed about with private jets and speaking to Frankfurt for days, all to mess Liverpool about?

 

Seems extremely far-fetched…

 

[r0cafella]

Just now, KaKa said:

 

There is a chance they thought the best time to show clear interest was once we were close to securing another striker.

 

No one seems to understand or believe that we are looking to rotate and pair our strikers together at times.

 

The last time both Isak and Wilson had a good run of fitness, they were both playing games and scoring goals, and featured as a tandem a decent amount, and it ultimately fired us into the Champions League.

 

They will soon learn.

I think they see this as the best opportunity to get a free run. Barca are broke, PSG strengthening other areas, real also focusing on other areas so they are trying to pounce. 

 

They don't need to care what we intend to do when making an offer, it's absolutely irrelevant to them. 

 

Only two scenarios where we sell him. 

 

1 he pushes for the move. 

2 we are offered something we can't refuse. 

 

 

[Shadow Puppets]

1 hour ago, SteV said:

So we’ve pissed about with private jets and speaking to Frankfurt for days, all to mess Liverpool about?

 

Seems extremely far-fetched…

I agree, it does. But so do a lot of the stories I hear from people in football about what goes on behind closed doors.

 

Either way, I (and the people I’ve been speaking to) don’t believe this Ekitike transfer will happen and never have. The consensus seems to be it’s been leaked to flush out Liverpool… whether that’s his agent or Frankfurt doing it to bring Liverpool to the table, or us doing it for different reasons.

 

Doesn’t mean we haven’t tried for him… just means that for whatever reason, the interests of the parties involved have been leaked to suit an agenda, as is often the case when you see daily / hourly updates about a transfer like this, especially from Romano.

 

I’d love us to sign him though (and keep Isak). Just can’t see it happening.

 

 

Edited July 16, 2025 by Shadow Puppets

[M1tche]

6 hours ago, Shadow Puppets said:

Heard an interesting take on this tonight via a WhatsApp group I’m in with a few people who work in football.

 

One of the comments was, “In my opinion, NUFC have leaked the Ekitike bid to draw Liverpool’s attention away from Isak”.
 

By that, they mean that we don’t really want / can’t afford Ekitike, we just want to take all of Isak’s suitors off the table (in this case by scaring Liverpool into making their move for Ekitike). 
 

Interesting viewpoint, not sure if anyone has thought / shared that concept in here yet. No idea if it’s true, but it does make some sense.

As much as I don't think this is what happened, its the kind of thin the petty side of me would do. Then, if the other club doesn't come in for them pull the plug on the deals, because they both messed us about prevously. 

[KaKa]

1 minute ago, r0cafella said:

I think they see this as the best opportunity to get a free run. Barca are broke, PSG strengthening other areas, real also focusing on other areas so they are trying to pounce. 

 

They don't need to care what we intend to do when making an offer, it's absolutely irrelevant to them. 

 

Only two scenarios where we sell him. 

 

1 he pushes for the move. 

2 we are offered something we can't refuse. 

 

 

 

Well they should care, because we are buying Ekitike not as some contingency plan, but to interchange with and pair with Isak.

 

And so, if they want to take a run at Isak the offer has to be one we feel uncomfortable rejecting, and so a whole lot more than that ridiculous £120 million package.

 

They're operating as though we have secured a replacement, and are looking for a buyer!

[Bondedcrown]

Fuck me some of the rubbish spouted on here! Not a single one of you has any idea what is going on behind the scenes at the club! If you do? Provide the real evidence?

[Rich]

1 minute ago, Bondedcrown said:

Fuck me some of the rubbish spouted on here! Not a single one of you has any idea what is going on behind the scenes at the club! If you do? Provide the real evidence?

[Fak]

4 minutes ago, Bondedcrown said:

Fuck me some of the rubbish spouted on here! Not a single one of you has any idea what is going on behind the scenes at the club! If you do? Provide the real evidence?

 

Who the fuck you talking to like that?