Not €100m: How much Liverpool are ACTUALLY spending on Hugo Ekitike

Yahoo

a day ago

This is how much Liverpool are really spending on Hugo Ekitike.
It's a summer of extravagance under Richard Hughes. After an underwhelming transfer period last summer, the club's sporting director is now delivering a genius window.
We've already seen him sign some exciting players and now Hughes has addressed a very important void in the squad with the signature of Ekitike.
As per Fabrizio Romano, Ekitike has been given the 'here we go' with everything by the two clubs for his transfer.
This agreement according to the journalist could be worth €95m in total. Some have suggested Frankfurt wanted as much as €100m.
However, it's important to note that this total sum includes add-ons, some will be achievable, some will be performance based so the reality of how much Liverpool have actually spent on Ekitike is actually far different to what it appears on the surface.
And a recent report in the reliable L'Equipe has confirmed that.
So, the initial upfront fee Liverpool are going to pay for Ekitike this summer is nowhere near €100m nor even €90m. In fact Liverpool could be getting him for an absolute bargain.
According to L'Equipe, Liverpool's upfront fee for Ekitike, which does not include bonuses and add-ons is only €78m, which is roughly £67m.
That's a figure that's not really being reported but it's coming from the most reliable sources from Ekitike's homeland. So, the chances are it's likely to be true.
And £67m makes the Frenchman an absolute bargain in the current market. Sure, there will be add-ons that could be worth around £15m as per the fee Fabrizio Romano which would rise as high as €95m, but all of that is based on factors that will determine Ekitike's success.
Liverpool will only have to pay the rest of the money if he plays a certain number of minutes, wins trophies, scores goals and etc. We don't quite know how the package looks like but it's guaranteed to include at least some of those criteria.
So in reality, the Reds have negotiated a decent fee for Ekitike. £67m for a player of his exciting potential is well worth the money. The extra £15m is something they will have to pay over the course of a few years, and only if Liverpool and Ekitike are successful.
For a club with the Reds' finances that extra £15m will not be a problem. Neither is the £67m fee, which is far cheaper than what Liverpool would have had to pay for Alexander Isak, who was being quoted around the £150m mark.
Now, is £67m a lot of money? In the grand scheme of things, yes. But in the current footballing landscape, where a Bryan Mbeumo, with one year left on his contract goes for more than that, Ekitike's price tag is pretty fair.