Liverpool believe that Hugo Ekitike can become their version of Kylian Mbappe or Erling Haaland, with data revealing startling comparisons.
French forward snapped up from Eintracht FrankfurtReds crunched the numbers before completing dealHas been joined at Anfield by record signing IsakFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
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.
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Isak arrived on Merseyside as the most expensive player in British football, with said deal set to be worth £125 million ($170m). Liverpool already had another forward on their books by that point, with Ekitike joining from Eintracht Frankfurt for £79m ($107m).
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He has impressed early in the 2025-26 campaign, with his goal account being opened in the Community Shield before going on to register Premier League efforts against Bournemouth and Liverpool. Ekitike found the target on 22 occasions for Eintracht last season.
GettyWHAT THE NUMBERS SHOW
His return of 15 Bundesliga goals was considered to be on the low side, given that said return fell 6.6 under his xG numbers, but reports that "underlying data from director of research Will Spearman convinced Liverpool to take the plunge".
That is because statistics "showed that Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe were the only strikers to have shown greater potential at a comparable age". Ekitike, who has already graced the books at Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain, only turned 23 over the summer.