Liverpool know what they must do to sign Hugo Ekitike after transfer statement

Liverpool are ready to make a concerted effort to sign Hugo Ekitike, who has an £85m release clause at Frankfurt, with the German club willing to offload their top talent at the right time

Liverpool are moving fast to make Hugo Ekitike the club's new centre-forward and know that the equation to making the Eintracht Frankfurt theirs is a simple one.

Frankfurt chief sporting director Markus Krosche has already admitted that the German club are willing to sell their top stars if they outgrow their environment at the Deutsche Bank Park - and that includes their French striker.

Ekitike has become the team's leading light, scoring 22 times last term as they qualified for the Champions League. His performances have subsequently led to major interest, not least from the Premier League.

Newcastle made the first move, seeing a £70million bid for the 23-year-old turned down by Frankfurt. With the Toon unwilling to sell Alexander Isak this summer, Liverpool have subsequently swooped and are in pole position, with the Frenchman keen to move to Anfield.

The Reds approached Frankfurt on Wednesday to register their interest and later informed the club they are ready to bid. Now the two sides are in open contact looking to do a deal.

It would be the second major name they've lost in a little over six months after strike partner Omar Marmoush moved to Manchester City in January for £59m.

Krosche has made clear that Frankfurt will let their top players seek pastures new when the time is right. He told Sport1 in May: "He's one of the most interesting strikers on the European market. Hugo has to decide that. I'm glad we have him. If he decides otherwise, that's our motto: If a player develops faster than us, we let him go."

Ekitike has an £85million release clause in his deal, but Frankfurt won't hold out for that. Instead, they'll look to do a deal that gives them fair valuation, is a sizeable increase on the £14m they paid PSG, and allows them to reinvest and improve a squad that qualified for the Champions League through league position for the first time.

Liverpool are looking to further bolster their attacking options with Darwin Nunez expected to leave the club. They have also been overreliant on Mohamed Salah at times and want to help ease the burden on the Egyptian.

The French forward has admitted he would like the chance to share the pitch with Marmoush again, which would involve him moving to England. He said last season: "I think he did everything he needed to do here. I'm happy to see him playing in England now.

"I try to watch his games whenever I can, especially when he’s playing. I think we shared some great moments together, and I hope we can play together again or face each other soon."

Liverpool have already spent north of £200m this summer, which included them breaking the British-transfer record to land Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen. They've also signed Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez.