The latest transfer news from EVERY Premier League club

 The latest transfer news from EVERY Premier League club

Take a look at all of Hugo Ekitike's goals and assists from the 2024/25 season as Liverpool and Newcastle step up interest in signing the striker from Eintracht Frankfurt

On the face of it, that was a perfectly reasonable short-term target. Prior to his final season at Reims, Ekitike had not even scored a goal in France's top tier. He had spent the second half of the previous campaign on loan at Danish club Vejle Boldklub.

He returned to Reims as the fourth-choice forward but soon forced Oscar to reassess. Soon after that, the two strikers whose level he had been encouraged to hit were no longer in his sights. "Within months, he wanted to reach the same level as Mbappe."

It is a tale that offers a glimpse into the mindset of the Eintracht Frankfurt forward who has long been linked with a move to the Premier League.

"He always was a talented player but some coaches did not like him because of his profile and sometimes because of his character," concedes Oscar. "They were thinking he was a little bit arrogant. He always wanted to be compared with the best ones."Work was still being done for Gyokeres