Chelsea Transfer Update: Blues Being Shortchanged on €100m Forward

Chelsea have been given an ultimatum over Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike, who is a number of offensive options that the Blues have been tracking.

Ekitike is coming off the back of a stellar season with the Bundesliga club, scoring 22 goals and creating another 12 across all competitions.

Such form has attracted a good deal of attention, with Liverpool the latest club linked with a move for him, but Eintracht are determined not to sell the 22-year-old and have placed a €100 million price tag on his head.

“If the price isn’t right, then he’ll just stay with us. We don’t have to sell Hugo,” Markus Krosche, CEO of the club, told Wiesbadener Kurier.

Indeed, Eintracht hold much of the power over the future of the 22-year-old, who they only signed last summer on a permanent basis from PSG for €16.5m. He is under contract until 2029, and though his Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) has jumped to €57.7m, the Bundesliga outfit are holding out for a far bigger price.

Expert opinion: Is Hugo Ekitike worth €100m?

Bundesliga expert Ronan Murphy has told FootballTransfers that while Ekitike has had an excellent season, his price is excessive.

“Eintracht Frankfurt is a talent factory for forwards. There is probably no better club in Europe at turning attackers into raw numbers. Goals, assists, and mostly large figures with a Euro symbol at the start. They have already sold Omar Marmoush for massive money in 2025, but before that, made their fortune from selling the likes of Randal Kolo Muani and Sebastien Haller for excessive fees,” he explains.

“It could be argued that most of the forwards they sell actually decline after they sell them. Luka Jovic is currently being linked with a move to Mexican side Cruz Azul, five years after Frankfurt sold him to Real Madrid for €63m. They know that if they sell a striker, another will come along, so they’re probably not worried about replacing Hugo Ekitike.

“The thing is… they don’t need to sell him. They’ve qualified for the Champions League for 2025/26 and the Marmoush money is still largely unspent. So if anyone wants Ekitike, they will have to pay that €100m. He’s not worth that. But has any Frankfurt forward ever been worth the amount they demand?”

Eintracht’s history of ripping buyers off

Murphy’s analysis is played out by cold, hard facts.

Ekitike’s asking price of €100m is nearly twice his ETV while Eintracht Frankfurt have invariably sold their strikers at a premium.

Marmoush, for example, had an ETV of under €60m when he moved to Manchester City in January. Kolo Muani, meanwhile, has never been close to being worth the €95m that PSG paid for him in 2023 and, similarly, Sebastien Haller has never been close to the €50m that West Ham once paid for him.

Chelsea and Liverpool should tread carefully in this deal.