Hugo Ekitike transfer: Liverpool make late change as pre-season plan emerges

Hugo Ekitike and his agent Karl Mwalako are flying to London this morning and not Liverpool ahead of his £79m transfer from Eintracht Frankfurt.

The France Under-21 forward will undergo a medical in the capital before signing his six-year contract and he will then jet out to Asia to join up with Arne Slot's first team squad on their pre-season tour. And all going well the deal could be completed by tomorrow.

Ekitike's signing will take their summer spend to date to almost the £300m mark as the Anfield club look to build a squad capable of retaining the Premier League title but it also means Arne Slot is now expected to bid farewell to a number of players before the campaign gets underway.

Luiz Diaz’s future remains perhaps most intriguing. Bayern Munich have already a bid of about £60m rejected and the Colombia forward would like to explore an opportunity elsewhere. And while Liverpool ’s stance is that he is not for sale, with Diaz continuing to train with the first team as normal, they are bracing for an improved bid from the Bundesliga champions.

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The club are open to offers for misfit Darwin Nunez, however, after two seasons in which he failed to live up to his £85m fee. Atletico Madrid appear to have quietened their interest with Liverpool keen to hold out for £70m but there remains the potential of a big money switch to Saudi Arabia for the Uruguay international

He spoke candidly during the title winning campaign for his desire to play more often and had asked Slot what he needed to do to get a greater look in.

But Liverpool won't sell him on the cheap. A number of Premier League sides are looking, but none are keen on a £50million price tag.

Several other youngsters could be playing elsewhere this season too.

Defensive midfielder Tyler Morton, 22, has interest from Premier League sides and could move either on loan or a permanent deal. Ben Doak, Luca Stephenson and James McConnell could all be in line for season-long loan moves too.

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