Journalist hints at SEISMIC Liverpool transfer in the works
Liverpool have something else brewing
Journalist Ben Jacobs claims Liverpool are still dreaming of Alexander Isak. The Newcastle United striker remains their ultimate target in this transfer window.
But Newcastle don't have to sell. In fact, they're proving incredibly difficult to negotiate with after qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.
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Liverpool essentially need to hope that Newcastle would prefer the cash they could get for Isak in order to upgrade their squad. If so, perhaps a deal could happen.
Though even then, we're still talking about a transfer record deal. Something that could approach £150m.
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New York Times
13 minutes ago
- New York Times
Justin Cochrane's return to Spurs: He'll plan training, but do more than just put the cones out
The main reason nearly a week passed between Tottenham Hotspur sacking Ange Postecoglou and announcing Thomas Frank as his successor was because negotiations with Brentford over the Dane's backroom staff had dragged on. Everybody had assumed Claus Norgaard would accompany Frank across London. After Brian Riemer left Brentford in December 2022 to become Anderlecht's head coach, Norgaard arrived as Frank's second in command. The pair had known each other since 2007 when Frank taught Norgaard on a coaching course run by Danish football's governing body (DBU). They worked together with Denmark's youth teams before Norgaard supported Frank during his three years in charge of Brondby. Advertisement Frank could not take all of his assistant coaches with him to Tottenham, and he prioritised poaching someone else. Justin Cochrane joined Brentford's first-team set-up in June 2022 after leaving his role as head of player development and coaching in Manchester United's academy. Senior figures at Brentford liked the idea of grooming Cochrane to be Frank's long-term successor. What they did not anticipate was the 43-year-old following Frank to Spurs, along with head of athletic performance Chris Haslam and analyst Joe Newton. The fact Brentford were so disappointed to have lost Cochrane is an indication of exactly how good a coach Spurs have just added to their staff… Brentford were one of only four teams in the Premier League last season to have three players reach double figures for goals. Bryan Mbeumo led the way with 20, Yoane Wissa was close behind on 19, while Kevin Schade scored 11 times. Mbeumo's haul came from an expected goals (xG) total of 12.3, which means he massively overperformed. During the 2021-22 season, Brentford's first in the top flight, the Cameroon international only scored four goals from an xG of 9.3. Cochrane can take some credit for helping him to become more clinical. Cochrane planned training sessions at Brentford. He would design drills around the tactical set-up of their next opponent or based on what skills he felt individuals needed to improve. Along with Frank, he mainly focused on the attacking unit. It was their duty to push Mbeumo, Wissa and Schade to a higher level with regular finishing drills. Frank assigns each of his assistants with around six players to look after. They are responsible for analysing that individual's performances and discussing areas of improvement. They are encouraged to have conversations about their personal lives, too. It was Norgaard's idea to convert Keane Lewis-Potter from a winger into a left-back. Despite playing in an unfamiliar position, Lewis-Potter was one of Brentford's most consistent performers last season. Lewis-Potter was one of the players Cochrane looked after and he helped the 24-year-old to adapt. When you know, you know @justincochrane8 🔮 — Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) May 17, 2024 'Justin has done very well for us here,' Frank said at a press conference in April. 'He came in with responsibility for the offensive part of the game, giving input to myself, the coaching staff and the players around everything from build-up to phase two to phase three and the breakthroughs. He's been a big part of that, planning the training week, and developing individual players. He's developed very well the last couple of years.' Advertisement There are loads of other examples of Cochrane making small adjustments which have a positive impact. When Brentford beat Nottingham Forest 2-1 in April 2023, Josh Dasilva came off the bench to score a stoppage-time winner. Dasilva's trademark finish was a curling left-footed shot towards the far corner but he surprised goalkeeper Keylor Navas by aiming for the near post. Cochrane pushed Dasilva to add variety to his strikes. 'I was just saying to Justin, we worked on that (finish) yesterday (in training),' Dasilva told Brentford's website. 'I always go far post and yesterday the mannequin was set in a way where I couldn't go far post and I had to go near post.' During his time with Manchester United, Cochrane crossed paths with future England international Kobbie Mainoo and Argentina's Alejandro Garnacho. They both started United's 3-1 victory over Nottingham Forest in the 2022 FA Youth Cup final and Garnacho scored twice. Cochrane encouraged Garnacho to avoid constantly chopping inside onto his stronger right foot to shoot. The winger scored United's third goal in stoppage time by cutting onto his right before going back towards the left to trick the defender. Garnacho's left-footed shot took a deflection and ricocheted past Forest's goalkeeper Aaron Bott. One small piece of advice from Cochrane helped him to become less predictable. Brennan Johnson was the only player to reach double digits for Spurs in the top flight last season, with 11. It feels likely that Cochrane will try and help Tottenham's attackers to become more efficient in the opposition box. Cochrane started his coaching career as a teenager in Queens Park Rangers' academy when he set up a grassroots team for local children under the age of 10. Cochrane only made one appearance for QPR before he went on to represent Crewe Alexandra and a variety of non-League sides including Boreham Wood, Aldershot Town and Hayes & Yeading United. He grew up in north London but played internationally for Antigua & Barbuda. Advertisement Before he retired, Cochrane started volunteering in Tottenham's academy at 27. He worked under Chris Ramsey and John McDermott, alongside Matt Wells and two future Premier League managers in Kieran McKenna and Scott Parker. He crossed paths and learned from Mauricio Pochettino too. McDermott spent over a decade with Spurs before he joined the Football Association in March 2020 and he played a role in Cochrane becoming part of Thomas Tuchel's backroom staff with England earlier this year. Cochrane will continue to help Tuchel in the build-up to and at next summer's World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada alongside his duties with Spurs. Cochrane oversaw the development of future England internationals Kyle Walker-Peters and Noni Madueke in his first spell at Spurs, as well as Dane Scarlett, Oliver Skipp and Marcus Edwards. Scarlett made 22 appearances on loan at Oxford United in the first half of last season before he returned to Spurs. The 21-year-old scored in a 3-0 victory over Elfsborg in the Europa League but only played five times in total. Perhaps Cochrane's influence could help him to become more established in the first-team squad. Cochrane has spoken in interviews about the importance of the 'Vibe Scale' which, despite sounding like an R&B song from the 1990s, is actually his way of recognising what the squad needs at the beginning of each day and reacting accordingly to their emotional, physical and mental states. Cochrane has worked in academies, in first-team environments and at international level so he understands how to connect with players who have different levels of experience. Luke Amos, who now plays for Perth Glory in Australia, spent 14 years at Tottenham and worked under Cochrane. The midfielder praised his former coach's vibrant 'energy' and enthusiasm. 'He reminded us that football is about fun, but you need to train properly,' Amos told The Athletic in 2022. 'I've never seen him lose his head, but if training wasn't right or someone was being sloppy, he would definitely tell them. He sets high demands. That's what the best coaches do. 'He is so good to work with and you can always approach him. Everyone connected with him easily. He was my coach at different age groups. He is not going to be the same with me when I was 14 and when I'm 20 — he adapts. When I was going through a few things, Justin would help out — like my mentality and not getting too frustrated — because that is something I definitely struggled with when I was younger.' Cochrane used to watch Barcelona and Real Madrid in the Champions League and design training sessions for Spurs' academy prospects based on what he had seen. Now he needs to prepare for the possibility of facing teams of that magnitude in that competition next season. In 2017, Cochrane graduated from The Open University with a degree in business, leadership and management. After nine years with Spurs, he became the England Under-15s head coach after seeing an advert online. He worked with then England first-team manager Gareth Southgate, his assistant, Steve Holland, and other age-group coaches including Steve Cooper and Kevin Betsy. Cochrane had played for Crewe when Holland was a member of the backroom staff. Advertisement In 2019, he completed his UEFA Pro Licence, was promoted to under-16s head coach and helped England win the UEFA Under-16 Development Tournament. The following year, he was appointed as the under-17s head coach and youth development phase lead. He helped to nurture lots of different players, including Newcastle United full-back Lewis Hall and Manchester City's Rico Lewis. He supported then head coach Aidy Boothroyd at the Under-21 Euros in 2019. England were eliminated at the group stage after losing twice and their squad included Dominic Solanke and James Maddison. Like Frank, Cochrane's track record of developing talent would have appealed to Spurs. The other members of staff Frank is bringing to Spurs are Haslam, Newton and Andreas Georgson. They will join forces with Wells and Rob Burch who, like Cochrane, both have a long association with Spurs. Ironically, Wells was Fulham's assistant manager when they beat Frank's Brentford in the 2020 Championship play-off final. Haslam is one of Frank's most trusted allies. He spent over a decade at Brentford across two different spells and was there for the entirety of Frank's reign. Haslam's role covered physical performance and sports science. He would be in constant communication with Frank on a match day and suggested substitutions. He often acted as a liaison between Frank and the fourth official. He also worked with Denmark at last summer's European Championship. Newton was in Tranmere Rovers' academy before being released and studying for a sports science degree at Wrexham University. During his time at university, he was registered in Wrexham's squad but spent time out on loan with non-League sides Colwyn Bay, Witton Albion and Newtown AFC. He completed a Master's degree in performance analysis at the University of Chester and worked for Welsh top-flight side The New Saints. He joined Brentford as a first-team analyst in September 2019, early in Frank's first full season in charge. He sits in the stands on a matchday and will debrief on how the team performed afterwards. He would sometimes be accompanied in the stands by Cochrane. They would be tasked with spotting anything the opposition team are doing which is different to what they expected. Georgson spent last year as Manchester United's set-piece coach, a role he previously held at Southampton, Arsenal and Brentford. He worked at Brentford during the 2019-20 season when they finished third in the Championship and lost the play-off final, before he was recruited by Arsenal. He also spent a year as technical director of Swedish side Malmo. Advertisement Spurs did not have a specialist set-piece coach last season but Nick Montgomery could often be seen giving players instructions from the touchline at corners and free kicks. Frank refers to his coaching staff as his 'SWAT team'. It is a bonus that he has been able to bring three people with him from Brentford and another former colleague in Georgson. He faces a huge challenge at Spurs but has surrounded himself with a strong group of assistants. Top photo:
New York Times
15 minutes ago
- New York Times
The art of showboating: ‘People sometimes see it as a slur – it's expressing yourself'
'If I had been in that position, I would have sawed them off below the knees. You just shouldn't do that.' It was a passage of play that featured no-look passes, a backheeled volley, and a game of keep-ball that turned a Champions League match into 'a kind of rondo'. Peter Bosz was furious. Furious with his own PSV players. Advertisement 'I thought it was terrible. I'm really annoyed,' he said. Back in January, PSV were facing a callow Liverpool side who were down to 10 men and trailing 3-2 in the closing minutes. Against the better judgment of Bosz, the PSV players had decided to showboat. 'I don't think it's respectful to the opponent,' Bosz said. 'I think we would have entertained the crowd before without all that craziness.' A couple of months later, in South America, Corinthians were beating Palmeiras 1-0 on aggregate in the second leg of the Sao Paulo state championship final. As the clock ran down, Memphis Depay stood with both feet on top of the ball. Andrei Kanchelskis once did something similar for Rangers in a Scottish Cup semi-final against Ayr United, when the Russian also brought one hand up to his forehead as if he was looking out to sea (it turns out he was trying to locate Billy Dodds, the scorer of the goal he was about about to set up). ⚽️ GOAL OF THE DAY: Billy Dodds v Ayr United 🕰️ On this day in 2000, a memorable moment from Kanchelskis in a 7-0 victory at Hampden Park. — Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) April 8, 2020 Depay, in contrast, was only interested in timewasting — and in a way that was provocative in the eyes of the Palmeiras players. A brawl and two red cards followed. So did a rule change. The Brazil Football Federation (CBF) announced that a player should be shown a yellow card if they stand on the ball with both feet, fuelling a wider debate about the changing face of jogo bonito — the beautiful game in Portuguese, and a term widely used as a nickname for football — and whether individuality on the pitch is becoming a thing of the past. Denilson, the former Brazil international who became the world's most expensive footballer in 1998, expressed his annoyance on Instagram. 'People ask me, 'Denilson, why don't we see players with personality, like there used to be?' Here's the answer — one more thing to take the fun out of our football.' There is a 'love it or hate it' element to showboating (Pep Guardiola feels the same way as Bosz, judging by the way he once publicly rebuked Raheem Sterling for a flurry of stepovers late on in a victory over Manchester United), but a debate about the rights and wrongs isn't so black and white. Wasn't Ronaldinho just being Ronaldinho when he was showboating? Advertisement Indeed, a trick that is regarded as excessively flamboyant and even disrespectful in the eyes of one player, may be seen as a go-to skill for another, whether that's Kerlon performing his seal dribble, Ricardo Quaresma's obsession with the rabona or, as was the case in the Copa del Rey final a decade ago, Neymar extravagantly lifting the ball over a defender's head with a rainbow flick that enraged Athletic Club. 'It was an act with no elegance or sportsmanship,' Andoni Iraola, the Athletic captain at the time and now the Bournemouth manager, told Telecinco. Neymar shrugged in response. 'It's a way of dribbling past an opponent like any other. You can't get angry because it's my style of play, I've been doing that for years.' Perhaps the timing of Neymar's showboating didn't help. Barcelona were leading 3-1 and less than five minutes remained. Jamie Carragher says the scoreline, or the 'game state', plays a big part in how acts of showboating are perceived. 'Most players wouldn't take the p*** or do something that risks the result because they know they'd get in trouble with their own players or manager,' the former Liverpool defender says. 'But when they know the result is taken out of the equation, and that the game's essentially won, that's when they probably feel it's OK. But then you're basically p****** off the opposition manager and players, and there's a chance of you getting a proper injury.' Cue that moment at the City Ground three years ago when Tottenham Hotspur were beating Nottingham Forest 2-0 with less than 10 minutes remaining and Richarlison started to do keepie-uppies. It was red rag to a bull for the Forest team. Brennan Johnson, now a team-mate of Richarlison at Spurs but a Forest player at the time, cleaned the Brazilian out. 'That's what you get for showboating at this level,' Martin Tyler, the Sky Sports commentator, said. "If you did what Richie did as a kid somebody would give you a whack!" 😅 Ange Postecoglou on the clash between Brennan Johnson and Richarlison in Forest vs Spurs last season 👀 — Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 15, 2023 Carragher, who was working alongside Tyler that day, didn't condone Johnson's challenge, but it was clear during his summarising that he had little sympathy for Richarlison, largely because his actions served no purpose other than to 'wind people up'. That's nearly always the case with ball-juggling (Frank Worthington's extraordinary goal of the season for Bolton Wanderers in 1979 is an obvious exception) because it's hard to see it as anything other than mocking the opposition. Advertisement In 1999, all hell broke loose in a game between Corinthians and Palmeiras (yes, those two again) that ended up being abandoned after Edilson, with his team 5-2 up on aggregate, rolled a ball down the back of his neck. Edilson was kicked, chased down the tunnel by the Palmeiras players and subsequently dropped from Brazil's Copa America squad. But what about showboating that does serve a purpose in the closing stages of a game that's already won — is that different? Carragher nods. 'If someone's using their ability to create a goal, or to get out of a tight situation, or to keep possession… one of the greatest pieces of skill is the Brazilian in the 1970 World Cup final who does that stepover before possibly the best goal of all time. I've always looked at that and thought, 'Wow'. I've never looked at it as taking the p***.' He is talking about Clodoaldo (below) dribbling around four Italy players inside his own half in the build-up to Carlos Alberto scoring his iconic goal. Did Clodoaldo need to do what he did before passing the ball 10 yards to Rivellino? No. Was it a joy to watch? You bet. At the other end of the scale is an incident that took place 14 years ago in Carson, California. 'Mario Balotelli, he's getting booed for this,' the commentator JP Dellacamera said. 'That's a bit disrespectful, I believe, to the LA Galaxy.' 'A bit?' replied Taylor Twellman, the summariser. Manchester City's Balotelli was clean through on goal in a 2011 pre-season friendly against LA Galaxy when he decided, ludicrously, to turn 180 degrees to try to score with a backheel flick. His shot (if you can call it a shot) went wide and some of the City players openly remonstrated with Balotelli. As for their manager Roberto Mancini, he was so incensed that he substituted Balotelli immediately, with only 30 minutes gone. On this day in 2011, Mario Balotelli tried this vs. LA Galaxy. His manager was not impressed. (via @MLS) — ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 24, 2020 More recently, there was that bizarre moment at Old Trafford when Manchester United were playing against Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League and Antony, their Brazilian winger, turned into a one-man circus act. With nobody close to him, Antony performed a 720-degree spin with the ball at his feet — before passing it straight out of play. 'I like to see skill and entertainment,' Paul Scholes, the former United midfielder, said in his punditry role for BT Sport. 'But I'm not sure that is skill or entertainment — it's just being a clown.' Mark Warburton called Nathan Oduwa into his office. He had no intention of rollicking the 19-year-old or telling him that he could never do it again, but he knew that he had to speak to the teenager to find out what was going through his mind at the time and also to explain why some people reacted in the way that they did. Advertisement A couple of days earlier, Oduwa had come on as a substitute for Rangers in a Scottish Championship game at Alloa Athletic, where they were leading 4-1. It was 5-1 by the time that Oduwa, who was on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, decided to channel his inner Neymar. Oduwa produced a rainbow flick, and the Rangers fans loved it. The Alloa players? Not so much. 'I felt as if he was trying to take the p***,' Colin Hamilton, the Alloa defender, said. 'What was there, a minute to go? Was there really any need for it?' The Scottish media had a field day. Rangers were a huge club playing in the second tier. Alloa were part-time, and Hamilton's comments about Oduwa fanned the flames. Rangers manager Warburton dealt with it in a rational way. 'I spoke to Nathan. I said to him, 'We're winning the game, this is Rangers, and that means it's a cup final for the opposition, so understand the reaction. They're at home, they're getting beaten, everyone's there watching, you come on as a young Tottenham boy and you're doing a rainbow flick'. 'I said, 'I love the fact you've got the courage to try something, I love the fact you go out and entertain the fans. If you're doing it for a purpose and it comes off and we create something from it, great. If you try it for a reason and it doesn't come off, I understand. But make sure there's a purpose to what you're doing. The moment you disrespect an opponent, then there's a different tone to the conversation'. 'And he said, 'I was genuinely trying to beat the guy. It's what I would do in training'.' Occasionally, a player will realise that they've overstepped the mark with their showboating. In 2005, Wycombe Wanderers' Nathan Tyson got down on all fours to head a ball over the line after the Wrexham goalkeeper had misjudged the bounce. Watched by several Premier League scouts at the time, Tyson instantly regretted his actions and feared he would, in his words, come across as a 'cocky nugget'. Advertisement 'I don't know what came over me,' he said. 'It was so pub-football-like. I feel sorry for the goalkeeper. He was a young lad, and I never meant to rub his nose in it. It was just intended as a bit of fun, and I would never do it again.' Kerlon's seal dribble, which involved him running along with the ball balanced on his forehead, was anything but a one-off. It was a move that he had perfected at a young age in Brazil through hours and hours of training with his father, and almost impossible to stop him once that ball was bobbing up and down on his brow. But it was not, Kerlon says, a party trick that he pulled out just for the sake of it. 'I think it was a solution I had available to me, a way of getting out of a tricky situation,' he told The Athletic last year. 'I never walked out onto the field planning to do it. It was just something that would happen naturally.' Kerlon ran into problems — literally. He was kicked, tripped and, in the Belo Horizonte derby in September 2007, hit with such force and so crudely by the Atletico Mineiro full-back Coelho, that he was fortunate not to suffer a serious injury. The fallout in the days and weeks that followed was evidence of how divisive showboating, or a piece of unique individual skill, can be — even in a country with Brazil's football history. 'If I was in Coelho's shoes, I would have clattered Kerlon,' Luiz Alberto, the captain of rival club Fluminense, said. 'It's disrespectful to his opponents. They are professionals too. I would find some way to get the ball from him. I would use capoeira (an Afro-Brazilian martial art) moves if I had to. I would take the ball, his head and everything else.' Others, including the future Brazil manager Dorival Junior, Atletico midfielder Maicosuel ('You have to have ability to do that') and readers of Placar magazine, came out in support of Kerlon. 'It brings people to the stadium in the same way Garrincha's feints once did,' Cassio Mauricio wrote in a letter that was published. 'People sometimes see it as a slur,' Lee Trundle says, sounding mildly annoyed. 'Football, especially now, is played in a way where everything's possession. And, for me, it's boring. For me, showboating is expressing yourself as a player. So I don't see it as a bad thing. 'When I did the one where I rolled it around my shoulders and Peter Jackson (the opposition manager who was in charge of Huddersfield Town at the time) said, 'He's disrespecting players'… well, how are you disrespecting a player? If you do a two-footed tackle on someone, no one will come out and say, 'He's disrespected that player'. For me, that's worse than rolling the ball around your shoulders or nutmegging someone.' Advertisement Trundle never played in the Premier League. He spent the majority of his career in the lower leagues of English football with Wrexham and Swansea City. For a period in the 2000s, though, he was known as the 'Showboat King' in the UK, certainly on the hugely popular television show Soccer AM, where his flicks and tricks and outrageous goals gained him a cult following that continues to this day. We can't ignore the ballers of the #EFL 😤 Take it away Lee Trundle 🔥 #EFLMen — Sky Bet (@SkyBet) September 11, 2024 Trundle is still playing semi-professionally in Wales at the age of 48 and scoring jaw-dropping goals. Last week, he was taking part in the Baller League in front of Will Smith. 'I like to express myself and I like to have fun on the pitch,' Trundle says, smiling. Aside from the broken nose that he suffered in a six-a-side game as a 17-year-old after putting the ball through the legs of a player who had threatened to punch him if he nutmegged him again (Trundle, being Trundle, also said 'Shut them' as the ball disappeared one side and came out the other), he was never on the receiving end of any physical retribution in a proper match for his showboating. 'On a professional pitch, players will say stuff, but when are they ever going to do it?' Trundle adds. Indeed, the reaction of players and fans to showboating is, to an extent, a reflection of the football culture in that country. Xavi, for example, made some interesting remarks about his former Barcelona team-mate Neymar's rainbow flick against Athletic Club after he had moved to the Qatari club Al Sadd. 'Those things in Brazil are accepted, but not so much (in Spain),' Xavi told Sport. 'He (Neymar) should reflect on it because he's an extraordinary guy, a hard worker and humble. But he has this Brazilian trait, which sees such things as part of the show. (In Spain), it looks like a lack of respect.' Advertisement Warburton, who is currently the sporting director and head of soccer for Sporting Club Jacksonville in the United Soccer League, nods in agreement. 'That's a major point (about the culture),' he says. 'One of the reasons I responded so quickly to your message (asking to talk about Oduwa and showboating) is that over here, in the States, people see something like that as being magical. 'I watched a game the other day where the team were defending a goal and the defender cleared it with an overhead kick, like a scissor kick, and the crowd went nuts. They were really like, 'Wow!', and they applauded it. It's a different audience.' In truth, most football supporters around the world enjoy a bit of showboating and all the more so if the main protagonist is playing for our team. Celtic fans still talk about the day Lubomir Moravcik controlled a ball with his backside against Heart of Midlothian, while Newcastle United supporters of a certain age will always smile when they think about Kenny Wharton sitting on the ball against Luton Town to get his own back for the humiliation they had suffered in a 4-0 defeat at Kenilworth Road earlier in the season. Go back a bit further to 1972 and Don Revie's Leeds United were playing exhibition football against Southampton, in much the same way as PSV did against Liverpool more than fifty years later. 'It's almost cruel,' Barry Davies, the BBC commentator, famously said as Johnny Giles produced a rabona in the middle of a 39-pass sequence. On This Day 1972 #lufc'To say that Leeds are playing with Southampton is the understatement of the season''Oh look at that, it's almost Cruel!'Barry Davies great commentary on the great Leeds United.#lufc #lufc100 @LUFC @TheSquareBall — LEEDS UNITED MEMORIES (@LUFCHistory) March 4, 2020 Showboating, in other words, has been around for a long time, and it's hard to escape the feeling that the good outweighs the bad, especially in an era when football increasingly looks the same. 'You don't want to kill that entertainment value,' Warburton adds. 'If the kids see a trick, buy into that skill, go and get a football and start copying it, that can't be a bad thing. We want players to be brave and to try things with a ball.' (Illustration: Kelsea Petersen; Ana Maria Ortero / AP Photo, Anthony Wallace / Getty, Sebastian Frej / Getty)
New York Times
23 minutes ago
- New York Times
That name you keep hearing: Hugo Ekitike. Exactly how good is the Chelsea and Man Utd target?
Seen enough of Jonathan David? Not too fussed regarding Benjamin Sesko? A Viktor Gyokeres skeptic? Well, how about the next name on the carousel of striker transfer speculation, Hugo Ekitike? As reported in The Athletic's DealSheet on Monday, Manchester United have enquired about the availability of the Eintracht Frankfurt forward in recent weeks, and he's also on the radar of Chelsea. The German club are adamant that the Frenchman will not leave for less than their €100million (£85.5m; $115m) asking price — just over six times what they paid Paris Saint-Germain for him last year — but are willing to be flexible around the structure of a deal. Advertisement It might seem an audacious stance, but having secured Champions League football for next season, Frankfurt have little reason to sell. They have banked sizeable fees from parting with Randal Kolo Muani, Willian Pacho (both to Paris Saint-Germain) and Omar Marmoush (to Manchester City) within the past two years, and don't believe that Ekitike — who got 22 goals and 12 assists for them last season — has reached his potential with the club. Yet Ekitike's elegance on the ball and increasing confidence in front of goal are turning heads. Combine that with his height (190cm/6ft 3in), marked defensive appetite and youth — he turns 23 tomorrow (Friday) — and Europe's superclubs are likely to test Frankfurt's resolve before the window shuts on September 1. But specifically, what would he bring to Manchester United or Chelsea? The Athletic analyses his game to find out. Ekitike has made significant progress during his 18 months in the Bundesliga. He initially arrived at Frankfurt on loan in January 2024 after only playing limited minutes at PSG, where Kylian Mbappe was still the main attacking force. It took time, but the young forward began to hit his stride as that season came to a close, scoring or assisting in each of Frankfurt's final five league games. With the move made permanent in the summer, Ekitike picked up where he left off in the new season, dovetailing nicely in a strike partnership with Marmoush at the top of a quick counter-attacking side. No team generated more expected goals (xG) from Opta-defined fast breaks than coach Dino Topmoller's lads across Europe's top four leagues last season, and Ekitike was central to most of those moves. His profile is suited to exploiting the space on the transition: a rangy dribbler out wide with a knack for arriving in dangerous areas to finish. He was the only centre-forward in Europe's top five leagues last season to take over 200 touches in the opposition penalty box and to carry the ball into it at least 50 times — he is both a provider and a poacher when his team can move quickly upfield. He starts the following move against Bochum with an alert interception, swaying his way back into midfield before powering past his marker and into space out on the wing. Bringing the bounce-pass under control, Ekitike wastes no time in making his way to the penalty area, cutting the ball back for Jean-Matteo Bahoya to shoot. Not only powerful and difficult to contain, Ekitike's directness often gives the opposition little time to recover their shape. Against Eintracht Braunschweig in August, Ekitike picks up the ball on the opposite side, barging his way into the box after a neat one-two with Marmoush. He follows up his run with an outside-of-the-boot cross to find Fares Chaibi in the middle to score. It's a technique that Ekitike resorts to often, able to dig out difficult passes with consistent accuracy. With space to gallop into, Ekitike's ball-carrying can make a huge impact — Mbappe, now at Real Madrid, was the only centre-forward to complete more dribbles of 10+ yards that led to a team shot in 2024-25. As we can see from his forward carries map below, Ekitike is very happy to drift across the final third to get on the ball, equally lively on both flanks and very dynamic from his striker's role. Ekitike sometimes plays more like a winger than a centre-forward, his long, lean frame and desire to dribble drawing comparisons to Alexander Isak. Much like the Newcastle and Sweden striker, he can produce something from very little, able to slalom between defenders and find the corners from distance. Advertisement Here against Bayern Munich, for example, Ekitike receives a crisp pass with his back to goal, before taking a decisive touch to cut inside and wriggling between two defenders. Once away, he is quick to shoot, catching goalkeeper Manuel Neuer off-guard with a curling shot into the far corner. There was also a laser-like finish from a similar area away to Tottenham, and Ekitike bent one in from that left side following a nutmeg against Ajax. As impressive as his dribbling can be, Ekitike is sometimes prone to some poor decision-making after winding runs, particularly after he beats one or two men. Take the clip below against Bayer Leverkusen — he does brilliantly to escape the corner flag with a clever flick, and shows great power to charge into the area, but then decides to take on the shot when he's clearly off-balance, turning down the easy lay-off to a team-mate on the edge of the box. It's something that can be worked on, but over-excitement after a positive action goes some way to explaining why his shot accuracy of 40 per cent is lower than that of most elite strikers in Europe. That said, Ekitike is plainly a force to be reckoned with on the counter. United's interest in him makes sense, given head coach Ruben Amorim's preference for tall, focal-point centre-forwards who can run the channels and bring others into play, while his natural positivity could flourish at the Old Trafford club with the similarly ambitious Bruno Fernandes moving the ball up to him quickly. We shouldn't discount Liverpool either — ruthless on the break, and potentially in the market for a No 9 should Darwin Nunez leave. If anything could push United into making Frankfurt an offer, the fear of missing out on him to their bitter rivals might well spur them on. Ekitike isn't just about open spaces and tricks on the wing — he has an eye for a killer pass in the final third. His technical ability often translates to sharp interplay around the penalty area, while his agility, as well as his awareness under pressure, sees him take some surprising touches at crucial moments, including a cheeky back-heeled assist after bursting into the box against Borussia Monchengladbach in 2023-24. Advertisement Here, against Werder Bremen, he originally looks to dart between the two centre-backs to attack the near post in frame one. Nathaniel Brown's cross is pulled behind him, but Ekitike reacts quickly to halt his forward momentum, sort out his feet and lay the ball off for Mario Gotze to score, his physical dominance clear as he holds off a defender with ease. Similarly, against Hoffenheim, Ekitike produces a deft first-time pass on the break. As Marmoush races forward down the right, he drops off to receive the pass, before sharply twisting his hips and punching the ball into the path of an onrushing Hugo Larsson to score. Though it can sometimes look unorthodox, Ekitike is clearly very intelligent around the box, with the variety of his link-up play repeatedly catching defenders off-guard. When he does attack the box, it's that raw pace and his eye for goal that gets him into position before defenders. Only four players — Mbappe, Barcelona duo Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah — generated more combined expected goals (xG) and expected assists (xAG) in 2024-25, outlining his double threat. A closer look at his shotmap shows an ability to sniff out a chance in the penalty area, with eight goals from inside the six-yard box including powerful headers, bundled finishes and tap-ins after well-timed runs. Something else that stands out is Ekitike's underperformance relative to his expected goals. While his output was excellent in a Frankfurt team tailored to his strengths on the counter, able to fashion chances at a healthy rate, there are concerns that his shooting technique might not guarantee goals over the long run, particularly if opportunities start to dry up. Ekitike's ball-striking is not hugely consistent, and for every time he pulls a rabbit out of the hat with a cleanly-hit finish, there are instances where he struggles to wrap his body around the ball. Against Gladbach below, for example, it gets stuck under his feet. It's harder for such a tall striker to adjust his body, but he persists and goes for the shot, but is unable to get enough power behind his effort. Putting Ekitike at the top of a more structured, possession-based side, where the centre-forward is less likely to have as much freedom to roam, banks on his instinctive finishing and technique in tight spaces to hold up. He doesn't often play against lower blocks, and isn't always able to rely on his ball-striking — the way former team-mate Marmoush can — to make the difference in stodgier games. His back-to-goal play is generally good, able to hold defenders off and link the play with one-touch passes and simple lay-offs. That said, a move to Chelsea — unless he was to play off their new No 9 Liam Delap — risks curbing the most natural part of his game. At full flow, Ekitike is a delight to watch, floating across the attacking third with the grace that is unexpected of a player with his build. But he is at his most destructive when he moves with the game, switching positions, picking his moments to hang back, attack the box, or drift out wide to drive the team up the pitch. Another season in Frankfurt — which is an ideal place for him to flourish — might provide more evidence that his game can translate to other leagues.
