Hugo Ekitike is Liverpool bound, but the Eintracht Frankfurt striker could have ended up at Chelsea this summer.
In June, it was claimed that Chelsea held positive talks over signing Ekitike, but the Blues have since withdrawn their interest and the 23-year-old is now set to join Liverpool.
He is going for a huge fee, with the Premier League champions agreeing to pay Eintracht £79m.
At that price, Chelsea have made the right decision pulling out of the race for his signature. They have spent big money on a Bundesliga striker in the past and it did not work out.
Hugo Ekitike could have been another Timo Werner-esque signing for Chelsea
There was a time when Timo Werner was shining in the Bundesliga, which saw him earn a £47m move to Chelsea in 2020.
In his final season in Germany, Werner scored 34 goals in 45 outings. Unsurprisingly, Chelsea had high hopes for him.
| Timo Werner’s final season at RB Leipzig | Games | Goals |
| Bundesliga | 34 | 28 |
| Champions League | 8 | 4 |
| DFB-Pokal | 3 | 2 |
| Total | 45 | 34 |
Simply put, though, the 29-year-old proved to be a disastrous signing and spent just two campaigns at Stamford Bridge before rejoining Leipzig in 2022.
Ultimately, considering how much Werner struggled after making the transition from the Bundesliga to the Premier League, Chelsea spending almost £80m on Ekitike would have been a massive gamble.
The above is not to say that the Frenchman will not be a success at Liverpool. Other than Darwin Nunez, the forwards Liverpool have signed in recent years have managed to produce.
At Chelsea, however, it has been a very different story, with Werner, Romelu Lukaku, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alvaro Morata all being flops.
Instead of signing Ekitike, Chelsea have brought in Joao Pedro and Liam Delap, who are much safer bets. The duo already have Premier League experience and cost less than what the former Paris Saint-Germain man is about to go for.
Their transfer policy has been vastly different to what it was when Roman Abramovich owned the club. This new regime has clearly learnt some lessons from Werner and some of the other failed signings that were made under Abramovich’s stewardship.
What Timo Werner and Hugo Ekitike worryingly have in common
Werner became infamous for missing chances at Chelsea, finishing his career in west London with just 23 goals in 89 games.
It would be silly to write off Ekitike just because of that, but there are some worrying similarities between the two. For example, while the France Under-21 international did manage to score 15 goals in the Bundesliga last season, his xG was 22.55, according to WhoScored.
It means he really should have scored 7.55 more goals than he actually managed. It is a sign of wastefulness, which Werner knows a lot about.
Again, forwards at Liverpool tend to do well. The Reds are an extremely attacking team and the fans at Anfield really get behind them. It would not be a surprise if Ekitike had a debut campaign to remember there.
But for Chelsea, it was too much of a risk to spend £79m on Ekitike, especially after the club’s experiences with Werner and Kai Havertz.
Pedro is not a bad alternative, already proving himself at the Club World Cup after scoring three goals in as many appearances. Enzo Maresca will utilise Pedro to devastating effect next season and perhaps help him outscore Liverpool’s imminent signing.
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