Chelsea ‘hesitate’ over signing £68m striker ahead of Liverpool

Chelsea and Liverpool are in the running to sign Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt (Getty)

Chelsea are ‘hesitating’ over beating Liverpool to the signing of Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike, according to reports in Germany.

Chelsea are looking to squad ahead of the Club World Cup and the £30 million deal to sign Liam Delap from Ipswich Town was completed this week.

Chelsea are also in advanced talks with Borussia Dortmund over a deal for Jamie Gittens, who has agreed a seven-year contract with the Premier League side.

Ekitike, meanwhile, has attracted interest following his impressive season with Eintracht Frankfurt in which he finished the campaign with 22 goals in all competitions.

According to BILD, Chelsea remain in the running to sign Ekitike before the transfer deadline at 7pm next Tuesday, but the club still have reservations over moving forward with a deal.

It’s claimed that the key reason is Chelsea’s valuation of Ekitike – Eintracht Frankfurt value the 22-year-old at €100m (£84.3m) but Chelsea are refusing to go beyond €80m (£67.4m).

Hugo Ekitike scored 22 goals for Eintracht Frankfurt this season(Getty)

BILD also report that Liverpool are also interested in Ekitike but their main focus is to reach an agreement with Bayer Leverkusen for Florian Wirtz.

Last week, reports in Germany claimed that Liverpool had held initial talks over a move for Ekitike.

Speaking on the final day of the Bundesliga season, Eintracht Frankfurt’s sporting director, Markus Krosche, refused to rule out the prospect of selling Ekitike this summer.

‘He’s one of the most interesting strikers on the European market. Hugo has to decide that,’ Krosche told Sport 1.

‘I’m glad we have him. If he decides otherwise, that’s our motto – if a player develops faster than us, we let him go.’

Earlier this week, Ekitike pulled out of France’s Under-21s squad for their European Championship campaign due to a back injury.

Chelsea, meanwhile, begin their Club World Cup campaign against Los Angeles FC on June 16.

Maresca’s side will then play Flamengo on June 20 before finishing their Group D campaign against ES Tunis on June 20.

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