Liverpool need to complete at least six transfers after Hugo Ekitike as £300m barrier broken

Darwin Nunez of Liverpool, Hugo Ekitike of France Under-21s and Luis Diaz of Liverpool

Via echo

Liverpool’s summer spending spree looks set to continue with the arrival of Hugo Ekitike.

The Reds are in talks with Eintracht Frankfurt and have already agreed personal terms with the forward as they look to bolster their attacking ranks.

The Frenchman will become Liverpool’s second-most expensive signing of the summer, should his move indeed go through, after Florian Wirtz joined the Reds in a club-record switch worth up to £116m from Bayer Leverkusen.

Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Freddie Woodman and Armin Pecsi have also all been added to Arne Slot’s ranks, with Liverpool committing to spending up to £216m prior to the arrival of Ekitike.

The signing of the 23-year-old will likely take the Reds close to the £300m barrier, if not break it, with Eintracht holding out for £86m.

But that is unlikely to be the limit of Liverpool’s recruitment drive, with further attacking reinforcements a new centre-back perhaps also desired.

A look at the Reds’ current squad and there will have to be a number of departures too.

Liverpool will boast 31 senior players over the age of 21 with the arrival of Ekitike, with 19 of them classed as overseas players.

Clubs are permitted to name a maximum 25-man squad, featuring no more than 17 overseas players.

Consequently, as things stand, six of the Reds’

current players - including two overseas stars - would not be able to be registered for the new season. And such a total would rise if further new arrivals follow Ekitike through the arrival door.

Admittedly, we can discount a number of the current players, assuming they will not be in Slot’s first team plans, with Rhys Williams and James Balagizi the most obvious examples.

Calvin Ramsay is also unlikely to be part of the senior ranks come the end of the transfer window, given he now takes up an overseas place, while it would be little surprise if fringe players Fabian Mrozek, Owen Beck, Tyler Morton and Luca Stephenson also left on loan or permanently.

Discount the aforementioned septet and Liverpool are left with a 24-man squad.

However, it still includes 18 overseas players so the Reds would actually be capped at a maximum of 23.

There will be senior departures too. Darwin Nunez is expected to move on, while Luis Diaz continues to be linked with a move away after Bayern Munich saw a £58.6m bid rejected earlier this week.

One of Kostas Tsimikas and Andy Robertson could move on too after the signing of Kerkez, while Federico Chiesa’s future is also uncertain.

Ibrahima Konate’s own future is also the subject of speculation with the Frenchman now inside the final year of his contract.

If one of the hexet were to depart, Liverpool would boast the maximum permitted total of 17 overseas stars. If more leave, they will have further room to recruit such players.

Meanwhile, Harvey Elliott has admitted he could move on in search of first team opportunities elsewhere.

If he were to leave, along with the aforementioned homegrown players, the Reds would be left with Woodman, Joe Gomez, Conor Bradley, Jeremie Frimpong and Curtis Jones making up their quota.

Bolstering such a quota will be one motivation behind the club’s interest in Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi.

The same can also be said of Anthony Gordon if they revisit previous interest in the Newcastle forward.

It is also worth noting that while Rio Ngumoha counts as an Under-21s player and doesn’t need to be registered in the Premier League, he has not been at Liverpool long enough to qualify for a a place on ‘List B’ - made up of eligible Under-21s players - for Champions League action.

Consequently, if Slot wished to consider the 16-year-old for European action, the Reds would have to leave additional room for him to be registered.

So, as things stand, should Liverpool indeed complete a deal to sign Ekitike, they will then likely need to oversee at least six departures to balance their books - with two of them overseas players. But such a total is likely to be higher, given ongoing transfer speculation.

A look at the Reds’ current senior ranks and it would be no surprise to see more than 10 further outgoing transfers, not including any Under-21s’ exits on loan or permanently.

With the transfer window open until September 1 and Ekitike not expected to be the last Liverpool arrival, strap yourselves in.

The Reds are looking to close their 11th deal of the summer by signing the striker, but there is plenty more still to be done.