The Ekitike-Saga takes a new turn

Eintracht Frankfurt will most likely lose Hugo Ekitiké to a Premier League club this summer. The question remains which club will be the one to earn his signature.

After weeks of little movement, the saga around Ekitiké suddenly picked up a lot of momentum. Newcastle, initially considered the big favourites for the signing, could now get some serious competition from another Premier League giant.

First offer rejected

According to Sky, Newcastle had an offer of €80m rejected by Eintracht Frankfurt, who have been very vocal about their price tag of €100m for the Frenchman.

This price tag would make Hugo Ekitiké the most expensive sale in Eintracht's club history, trumping even the recent sales of Omar Marmoush and Randal Kolo Muani.

The club feel they are not in a financial position of needing to sell the player, and with several clubs lurking, see themselves in a comfortable position to wait for an offer that matches their asking price.

New Interest in Ekitiké

Apart from Newcastle, several other major clubs also have their eyes on the Eintracht striker. Saudi champions Al-Hilal reportedly inquired about a transfer, however the 23-year-old prefers to remain in Europe.

Yesterday, The Athletic reported that Premier League title holders Liverpool entered the race for Ekitiké, putting immense pressure on Newcastle to get their deal done as soon as possible.

In addition, Liverpool inquired about a transfer of Alexander Isak from Newcastle themselves, adding more fuel to the fire in this transfer saga.

The magpies now find themselves in a position where they could lose their star-striker to a Premier League rival, or have their main transfer target snatched away by that same club.

This dynamic certainly means that Eintracht will be guaranteed a large transfer fee, as both Newcastle and Liverpool look to complete this signing as soon as possible.

PSG's sell-on clause

Frankfurt, who look to profit most from this transfer saga, will have to pay 15 to 20% of their received transfer fee to Champions League winners PSG, due to a sell-on fee agreed when Ekitiké joined the Bundesliga club.

Despite this, Eintracht are looking at transfer profit of €50m to €60m, having signed Ekitiké for €16.5m just 18 months ago.