Manchester United are interested in signing Eintracht Frankfurt star Hugo Ekitike this summer but will not be able to afford his £85 million release clause.
Manchester United are currently in the midst of a massive squad-rebuild this summer, with manager Ruben Amorim keen to get rid of a lot of dead weight from the squad.
The club have already made waves in the transfer market, signing Wolves’ Matheus Cunha for £62.5 million earlier this month.
Alongside Cunha, there are plenty of attackers who look likely to join the club, with Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo being one such player.
Another star who could join the Red Devils this summer is 22-year-old Hugo Ekitike, who scored an impressive 22 goals in all competitions for Eintracht Frankfurt last term and commands a significant fee.
United exploring potential Ekitike swap deal
While United cannot match the £85 million release clause in Ekitike’s contract, there have been reports that Frankfurt could lower their demands.
CaughtOffside have reported that United are also keen to explore the possibility of a swap deal for Ekitike, with two potential players already lined up.
It is important to mention that, currently, no formal talks have been opened with the player, but a swap deal has not been ruled out in initial negotiations.
The report states that the Reds would be open to either Joshua Zirkzee or Rasmus Hojlund ending up in Frankfurt to get this deal over the line.
Hojlund currently earns £85,000-per-week at Old Trafford while Zirkzee is on slightly more at £105,000-per-week, and neither have been able to shine since their respective moves.
Fabrizio Romano provides an update on Ekitike
The aforementioned report also included the latest update from Fabrizio Romano on the saga, with the Italian reporter explaining that this is not an ‘easy’ deal for United to complete, not just because of the competition from Liverpool and Chelsea.
“Ekitike is an option for Manchester United, he’s a player appreciated by the club, and also Christopher Vivell, who is now at Old Trafford, knows the player well because he’s worked in the Bundesliga with Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig, so he’s always monitoring Bundesliga developments,” Romano said.
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“Let’s see what’s going to happen there, but at the moment, again, the deal is not considered easy. It will clearly be expensive, and there is competition there from Liverpool and from Chelsea, so it’s just contact at the moment between the parties while Manchester United wait to clarify the striker’s situation.”
United will likely need sales before even attempting to make a bid for the player, with the likes of Marcus Rashford and Antony on the transfer list at Old Trafford.
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