Why Liverpool would replace Darwin Nunez with Frankfurt's Hugo Ekitike

In just over a month's time, the 2025/26 Premier League campaign will begin and Liverpool will be looking to defend the title they won at a canter last season.

Arne Slot's squad will be without Trent Alexander-Arnold who has already begun his career with Real Madrid, though fans will surely be delighted by the signings of Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and Florian Wirtz.

Liverpool board have put their money where their mouths are

Making the group stronger whilst still at the top is the aim of the game, but clubs strangely often wait until they're on the way back down in terms of form before opening up club coffers to bring in some new blood.

Liverpool's board have, despite the occasional moan from the Reds faithful, put their money where their mouths are since taking over the club, as the signing of Wirtz in particular would indicate.

Jurgen Klopp certainly benefited from their willingness to back his project, and after Slot decided to go with what he already had and not go on a spending spree in his opening transfer window at Liverpool, he's now reaping the rewards of that decision as the club hunt best-in-class exponents to deliver more success.

As with any squad evolution, in order for there to be space for any incoming transfers, there's bound to be one or two outgoings.

Reds must offload Darwin Nunez to land Hugo Ekitike

According to reports, the Reds now have their eye on Eintracht Frankfurt's brilliant frontman, Hugo Ekitike, but in order to land the 23-year-old, they'll need to offload Darwin Nunez first. 

Read our exclusive insight about Ekitike's situation on the transfer market.

Their interest in the Frenchman is understandable after he enjoyed a fantastic 2024/25 season with the Bundesliga outfit. Whilst not a break-out season as such, his numbers have certainly ensured that he's gained wider attention.

48 matches played in all competitions was the most in the entire Eintracht squad, as were his 34 goal contributions (22 goals and 12 assists) and 19 big chances created.

3.21 shots per game placed him second in the squad, whilst his 1.33 key passes per game and 6.15 touches in the opposition box per game also gave him the silver medal.

In short, he is and has been Eintracht's 'main man', though the German side's hierarchy won't panic about him leaving just yet, given it's understood that he has four years left of his current contract and the club have no plans to sell at below their £86 million valuation.

Hugo Ekitike's Recent StatsFlashscore

Nunez was poor for Liverpool in 24/25

His numbers are in stark contrast to Nunez's, too, after the Uruguayan appeared to be wading through treacle at some points of the past campaign.

In the 36 games played in all competitions, he managed only six goals and three assists.

A shot conversion rate of 13.6% wasn't bad when compared to the rest of the Liverpool squad, but for a striker, it's poor.

Mo Salah's was at 22.5% by way of comparison, and even Luis Diaz, who is ostensibly a winger too rather than a more central attacker, managed to convert 18.9% of the time.

Passing-wise, his paltry 284 was only better than Federico Chiesa, Treymaurice Nyoni, Tyler Morton, Vítezslav Jaros, Jayden Danns and James McConnell, all of whom played fewer games. 

Of the first-team regulars, Nunez was way behind in terms of his output, and even suggests that he was playing most games on the periphery of the action unfolding before him.

Defensively, it's a different story, and it might surprise many to note that his winning of 24 of the 27 total tackles he attempted last season gave him an 85.2% tackle success, which is vastly more than anyone else in the Liverpool squad.

Slot's opinion is understandable

It's a shame, therefore, that the primary objective of scoring or assisting goals appeared to almost totally desert him during the previous campaign.

To that end, one can understand why Slot and his backroom staff may consider the Uruguayan surplus to requirements, though there's never any guarantee that players will leave quietly if they're perfectly happy where they are.

Darwin Nunez Recent StatsFlashscore

Nunez certainly didn't start as many games as he would've liked in 24/25, but seemingly has never expressed a wish to move on.

With Newcastle, Chelsea and Saudi pair, Al Hilal and Al Qadsiah, apparently circling for Ekitike's services too, it's clear that time is of the essence if Liverpool want to land the Frenchman.

The Club World Cup comes to an end shortly, and that will refocus minds on pre-season objectives and the beginning of the new campaign.

Late window business is a no-go

Business can still be done right up until September 1st, of course, though Liverpool will have already played Bournemouth, Newcastle and Arsenal by then.

A settled side - and that applies to Eintracht too - is needed as soon as practicable, and not three weeks into the season, so if there's a willingness to get the Nunez and Ekitike deals done, the time is now to get them over the line.

#Jason Pettigrove