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Ballpark food is an event in and of itself—even if there weren't a game happening right in front of you, you could easily busy yourself (and your stomach) for hours, experiencing different cuisines, trying new and exciting drinks and enjoying genuinely quality meals that aren't the typical hot dog and popcorn combo.

But you'll also find some pretty wacky concoctions, too. Things like sandwiches layered in condiments and proteins you'd never think to mix together; savory-sweet combinations that will clog your arteries, but also wow your taste buds; and strange-colored desserts that look radioactive, but are really just delicious.

Indeed, stadiums find new ways to wow each year, which is why we've sought out some of the weirdest, wackiest and just generally delicious-looking ballpark food debuting in the 2025 season to showcase below. To be clear, this isn't new food in stadium, but just some select highlights that, to us, look like either gastronomical home runs or somehow still-delectable culinary fouls.

The TLDR? Goodbye peanuts and cracker jacks, hello cotton candy fries.

Let's dive in:

Chicago White Sox:

The Celebration Cake Shake:

Toni Kroos admits he understands the criticism over his former Real Madrid team-mate Vinicius Jr’s behaviour on the pitch, saying the forward’s hot-headed antics can be “annoying”. The Germany icon has weighed in on the conversation surrounding the winger, who issued an apology to Los Blancos’ supporters after reacting angrily to being substituted in last month’s El Clasico with Barcelona.

• Vinicius criticised for angry reaction to Clasico substitution

  Brazil star Vinicius was seething after being taken off in the first Clasico of the 2025-26 season on 26 October. The 25-year-old shouted “always me” towards Real manager Xabi Alonso following his withdrawal after 72 minutes, before adding “I'm leaving the team, it's better if I leave, I'm leaving.”

  Vinicius expressed his frustration by going straight past Alonso and down the tunnel, only to return to the bench to watch his side secure a 2-1 victory over fierce rivals Barcelona. He then attempted to confront Blaugrana winger Lamine Yamal in ugly post-match scenes at the Santiago Bernabeu.

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  Brazil superstar apologised to Los Blancos faithful three days later

  However, Vinicius was full of remorse for his actions, taking to social media to issue an apology to Real supporters. Three days after the match, he wrote on X: “Today I want to apologise to all the Madridistas for my reaction when I was substituted in the Clasico.

  "Just as I have already done in person during today's training, I also want to apologise again to my team-mates, the club, and the president.

  “Sometimes passion gets the better of me because I always want to win and help my team. My competitive character stems from the love I feel for this club and everything it represents.”

  However, Vinicius’ apology did not mention Real boss Alonso, whom he is reported to have a strained relationship with.

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  Former Real midfielder Kroos reveals he tried to keep Vinicius in check

  While the debate continues to swirl regarding Vinicius’ behaviour against Barcelona, former Real midfielder Kroos has since revealed he tried to keep the former Flamengo ace in check when they were team-mates, owing to a feeling that his conduct was causing the club to “suffer”.

  In quotes carried by Spanish publication the 35-year-old said at The Icon League, a Germany-based five-a-side football tournament he co-founded: “At that time, I told him many times that he’d had enough, because you get the feeling that, due to his behaviour, the team ends up suffering. It's understandable that he might annoy an opponent, a referee, or the crowd.

  “As a team, you get the impression that everything is working against the group because of what's happening around him. I've tried many times to calm him down on the pitch, especially so he wouldn't lose his composure, because sometimes that happened. I always told him, 'You're so good you don't need all that’.”

  In a legendary 10-year spell with Real, Kroos lifted 22 trophies including five Champions League titles with the Spanish heavyweights, making 465 appearances in all competitions. He retired from professional football after representing Germany – with whom he won the World Cup in 2014 – at Euro 2024, with Julian Nagelsmann’s side losing to eventual winners Spain in the quarter-finals.

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  Up next for Vini Jr: Real return to La Liga action against Elche

  Despite the criticism being levelled at Vinicius, he has continued to perform well for Real this season. The Rio de Janeiro-born attacker has scored five goals and recorded four assists in La Liga this term. 

  Vinicius also featured in both friendlies as Brazil continued their preparations for the 2026 World Cup with a 2-0 victory over Senegal, before drawing 1-1 with Tunisia. Carlo Ancelotti’s side have already qualified for next summer’s tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

  Meanwhile, Real return to La Liga action this weekend following the conclusion of the international break. Alonso’s side – who have won 10 of their 12 league games this season – are looking to maintain their position at the top of the table when they travel to 11th-placed Elche on Sunday. Second-placed Barcelona will be looking to apply pressure when they entertain Athletic Club on Saturday, with Hansi Flick’s men just three points behind.

Every team wants a world-class centre-forward to lead their line, and there is arguably a lack of top strikers in today’s game compared to previous generations.

Scoring goals on a regular basis is a priceless attribute, and all clubs want a proven finisher in their ranks, but they can come at a huge price. That being said, there are still a plethora of elite strikers at the top of their games, but who is the best number nine around today?

Ranking factors

To help rank the strikers in order, we have considered the following criteria:

• Current form – how well a player has performed in the past few months
• Importance to their teams – how influential they are to their team’s performances
• Role – how unique their skillset is
• Reputation – what others say about them

15

Joao Pedro

Chelsea and Brazil

Joao Pedro quickly made an impact at Chelsea after signing for £60m from Brighton by helping the Blues win the Club World Cup in the USA.

The Brazilian, now valued at a career-high €50m, also started the 2025/26 Premier League season on fire and looks set to be Chelsea’s first choice striker for years to come.

14

Nick Woltemade

Newcastle and Germany

Eyebrows were raised when Newcastle splashed the cash on Nick Woltemade in a club-record £69m over the summer.

However, the towering German has taken to life in England with ease, replacing Alaxender Isak and scoring goals on a regular basis. Woltemade hasn’t looked out of place in the Premier League.

13

Omar Marmoush

Man City and Egypt

After starring for Eintracht Frankfurt, Omar Marmoush got his big move to Man City in January 2025, and he continued to find the back of the net for fun.

Pep Guardiola called the Egypt international “the best player in the Bundesliga” after signing Marmoush for City, and he already has a Premier League hat-trick to his name.

12

Cristiano Ronaldo

Al Nassr and Portugal

Arguably one of the best players to have ever graced the game, Cristiano Ronaldo is still going strong at the age of 40 and has actually scored more goals since turning 30 than he did before.

He’s been plying his trade in the Saudi Pro League for Al Nassr since 2023 and has continued to find the back of the net on a regular basis.

Ronaldo has now scored over 950 career goals for club and country and has been showing no signs of slowing down, continuing to feature regularly for Portugal.

11

Marcus Thuram

Inter Milan and France

Marcus Thuram made history in 2025 with the quickest goal to be scored in a Champions League semi-final following his clever flick against Barcelona.

The goal highlights Thuram’s quality, and he is now valued at €75m by Transfermarkt, a figure which has more than doubled since moving to Inter Milan from Borussia Monchengladbach in 2023.

The French forward has had the best goalscoring season of his career in 2024/25, and at 27, appears to be at the peak of his powers.

10

Hugo Ekitike

Liverpool and France

Hugo Ekitike became a man in demand after impressing for Eintracht Frankfurt, with Liverpool winning the race to secure his services for an initial £69m.

The 22-year-old previously made his loan move to Frankfurt from Paris Saint-Germain permanent in 2024 and enjoyed his best ever season in front of goal.

PSG are doing just fine themselves without Ekitike, however, they will surely be kicking themselves in regards to selling the “next Mbappe”.

9

Victor Osimhen

Galatasaray and Nigeria

Galatasaray struck gold by signing Victor Osimhen on loan from Napoli last summer, with the Nigeria international continuing to do what he does best – score goals.

Osimhen fell out with Napoli chiefs last summer which resulted in his move to Turkey for the 2024/25 season, and that has now become permanent. The striker has been called “one of the best centre-forwards in the world” by Alvaro Morata.

8

Lautaro Martinez

Inter Milan and Argentina

Alvarez’s international teammate, Lautaro Martinez, is next on the list, with the Inter Milan star a regular source of goals for the Serie A giants since 2018.

In fact, Martinez has hit double figures for Serie A goals in all eight of his campaigns in Italy and has now surpassed 150 goals in all competitions for Inter.

Now Inter captain, Martinez appears to be in the prime of his career and even Lionel Messi backed him to win the Ballon d’Or just last year.

7

Alexander Isak

Liverpool and Sweden

Alexander Isak is regarded as one of the world’s best centre-forwards after starring in the Premier League for Newcastle United, and his record £125m transfer to Liverpool was the saga of the 2025 summer window.

Jamie Carragher, at the beginning of 2025, actually called Isak the “best striker in the Premier League”, however, his start to life at Anfield hasn’t gone to plan which has seen him drop down the rankings.

6

Viktor Gyokeres

Arsenal and Sweden

Many wouldn’t have expected Viktor Gyokeres to be one of the best strikers in the world a few years ago when he was at Coventry City in the Championship. However, the Sweden international is now deservedly regarded among the elite after starring on the European stage with Sporting CP.

Gyokeres scored 43 times in his debut season in Portugal and has proven this year that he wasn’t a one-season wonder by finding the back of the net more than 50 times in 24/25. He has now got his return to England with a big-money move to Arsenal and has continued to find the back of the net, albeit on a less regular occurence.

The New York Yankees are altering their strict facial hair policy heading into the 2025 MLB season.

"In recent weeks, I have spoken to a large number of former and current Yankees—spanning several eras—to elicit their perspectives on our longstanding facial hair and grooming policy, and I appreciate their earnest and varied feedback," managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said in a statement Friday. "These most recent conversations are an extension of ongoing internal dialogue that dates back several years. Ultimately the final decision rests with me, and after great consideration, we will be amending our expectations to allow our players and uniformed personnel to have well-groomed beards moving forward.

"It is the appropriate time to move beyond the familiar comfort of our former policy."

The legend of the Yankees' facial hair policy dates back to 1973 shortly after George M. Steinbrenner bought the franchise from CBS. As the story goes, Steinbrenner gazed at the Yankees' lineup on Opening Day and couldn't identify the players by their faces yet and instead focused on their unkempt facial hair. Steinbrenner ordered manager Ralph Houk to tell his players to get a haircut.

"All players, coaches and male executives are forbidden to display any facial hair other than mustaches [except for religious reasons], and scalp hair may not be grown below the collar," the Yankees' player manual stated. "Long sideburns and mutton chops are not specifically banned."

New York's facial hair policy remained in effect for decades despite multiple protests from employed players. In 1991, Don Mattingly was benched and fined for refusing to trim his mullet. Any player who previously sported facial hair and joined the Yankees—famously the shaggy Johnny Damon in 2006—had to clean up their hair and facial hair before donning the pinstripes.

But now, the Yankees' outdated policy is behind them. Hopefully, this year's roster packed plenty of beard oil for their spring training tenure in Tampa, Fla.

Manchester United academy graduate Kobbie Mainoo has found himself in a difficult position under head coach Ruben Amorim this season.

The England international has not started any of his seven appearances in the Premier League in the 2025/26 campaign, as Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro, and Manuel Ugarte have all been preferred ahead of him in the XI.

Mainoo started 19 Premier League games last season and 24 in the 2023/24 campaign, per Sofascore, which shows that he has been far more integral to the side in previous terms.

On top of his current struggles for game time, the Red Devils and the INEOS regime are reportedly interested in signing another midfielder who would also be ahead of him in the pecking order.

Man Utd eyeing move for Premier League midfielder

The January transfer window is eight weeks or so away from opening for business, and the Premier League giants are looking at possible targets to bolster their squad.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

According to Football Insider, Manchester United are one of the clubs eyeing up a move for Nottingham Forest central midfielder Elliot Anderson ahead of the January window.

The report claims that the England international, who has emerged as a key player for Thomas Tuchel’s Three Lions, is United’s number one midfield target.

It adds that Liverpool are also interested in the £120m-rated midfielder, which shows that there will be competition for his signature at the turn of the year.

However, it now remains to be seen whether or not United or Liverpool are willing to pay the money that it would take to sign him from Forest in January.

Why Man Utd should sign Elliot Anderson

The Red Devils should push the boat out to sign the England international because he could arrive at Old Trafford as a big upgrade on Mainoo in the middle of the park.

The chart above shows that Anderson has outperformed Mainoo in a host of metrics over the past 365 days, particularly as a defensive force and as a progressive passer.

Whilst the counterargument to that would be that Mainoo has not had enough minutes on the pitch to showcase his quality this season, England boss Tuchel has also decided to go with Anderson over the United man in his midfield at international level.

On top of that, the Nottingham Forest star, who was hailed as “incredible” by journalist Miles Starforth, also outperformed the Red Devils academy graduate in the Premier League last season, when the midfielder started 19 of his 25 appearances.

As you can see in the table above, Anderson provided more quality to his team in the middle of the park with both his play in and out of possession for the Tricky Trees, offering more protection to his defence and making a bigger impact in the final third.

These statistics, on top of the aforementioned statistics over the past 365 days, suggest that he would be a better option for Amorim than Mainoo in the middle of the park in the second half of the season.

This means that a move for Anderson in the January transfer window could leave the English midfielder in a precarious position at Old Trafford, because he could be behind Bruno, Casemiro, Ugarte, and Anderson for two midfield positions.

That could then force the academy graduate to consider his long-term future at the club under Amorim and INEOS, as he may not want to sit on the bench at United when he could be playing regular games elsewhere.

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Manchester United now have a talent who has managed to transform his career at Old Trafford.

By
Ethan Lamb

Oct 30, 2025

Ibrahima Konate has revealed that a final decision on his future at Liverpool will be made soon amid strong interest from Real Madrid. The French centre-back has entered the final part of his five-year contract with the English champions that he signed in 2021. The Reds are yet to agree a new deal with the defender, with only weeks left before he can initiate pre-contract talks with foreign clubs.

• Defender's five-year spell at Liverpool so far

  Konate joined Liverpool in 2021 from RB Leipzig when Jurgen Klopp was still their manager. The French defender slowly established himself as a key figure in the Reds' backline, first under Klopp and then under Arne Slot. He played a key role in helping the Merseyside club win their record-equalling 20th English top-flight title last season. He has regularly featured for the club at the heart of their defence alongside Virgil van Dijk.

  Despite being a key member of Slot's side, Konate is yet to commit his future to the club beyond 2026, while the Merseyside giants are also yet to offer a new deal to the player. The Frenchman can formally hold pre-contract talks with clubs outside England from January. Real Madrid continue to remain interested in the player and want to convince him not to sign a new deal and then join them as a free agent next summer. Madrid are also joined by Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, who are also in search of a quality centre-back option. 

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  Konate to decide on his future soon

  Ahead of France's dead-rubber World Cup qualifying game against Azerbaijan in Baku on Sunday, Konate addressed questions on his future as he told reporters: "My agents continue to discuss with Liverpool. I hope my decision will be made very soon so I can announce it."

  The defender rubbished rumours which claimed that Liverpool have already approached with a new contract, as he added: "I don’t know where that’s coming from."

• Madrid using Mbappe to convince Konate

  In a chat with , Konate also revealed that he gets constant phone calls from his France team-mate and captain Kylian Mbappe, as he said that the 26-year-old Real Madrid star "calls me every two hours to sign for Real Madrid." Mbappe is determined to convince the Reds defender to join him at the Spanish capital next summer. 

  There is no urgency in the Madrid camp when it comes to Konate's transfer, as Liverpool have only a few weeks to convince the player and make him sign a new deal before he starts to negotiate new offers. The La Liga side would want Konate to reject a new contract offer from the Premier League champions and then join them in the summer for free, quite similar to the way they landed Trent Alexander-Arnold this season.

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  Liverpool are not dependent on Konate

  Earlier this month, Reds legend and pundit Jamie Carragher claimed that while he would love to see Konate stay back and continue at Anfield, if he leaves for Madrid next summer, the Merseyside club won't miss the centre-back much. 

  Carragher told the : "I’d like him [Konate] to stay but if he doesn’t stay, Liverpool will sign someone else. Liverpool won’t fall apart if Konate leaves. He's not Virgil van Dijk. He's a good centre-back who you hope will sign, but if he doesn’t want to sign, Liverpool will be absolutely fine. He's a very good centre-back, he's a title winner at Liverpool, he's played in the Champions League final against Real Madrid. He's obviously a quality centre-back. It's not poor management [if he goes for free]. You can't physically make somebody sign a contract. Then it's your decision, do you keep him to the length of his contract or do you sell him?"

The Cleveland Guardians' 2024 season was inching closer to ending during Game 4 of the ALDS vs. the Detroit Tigers on Thursday, until pinch hitter David Fry entered in the seventh inning.

Fry entered the game for Kyle Manzardo in the seventh inning, and it paid off for the Guardians. During Fry's first at-bat, he fired off a 382-foot two-run home run to give Cleveland a 4–3 lead. It was exactly the spark they needed.

Fry's clutch homer was the first go-ahead pinch hit home run in franchise history, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

Fry's heroics didn't stop there. During his next at-bat in the ninth inning, he laid down a sacrifice bunt in order to bring shortstop Brayan Rocchio home to score. His bunt traveled just far enough to give Rocchio a shot to score at the plate. This put the Guardians up 5–3 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning.

Fry spoke with TNT after the game and was pretty excited to have the bunt work out in their favor.

"The only bunt I've had this year was a double play, so I didn't think I was going to do it again, but they told me to. Luckily it worked," Fry said.

The Tigers scored one run in the ninth as they attempted to mount a late comeback, but the Guardians held on and won to force a Game 5 on Saturday.

It was arguably the biggest game of Fry's career. He was called up to MLB during the 2023 season, and this is his first postseason appearance. He made quite a mark.

Tottenham Hotspur are finding their feet in the Premier League this season and there is a swell of internal belief surrounding one of their most promising stars.

Tottenham's resilience leaves Frank delighted

Over the years, external narratives involving Spurs have questioned their mentality to grind out results when the pressure is on, but Thomas Frank appears to be in a position to reverse that trend.

Speaking after Tottenham’s hard-fought 2-1 victory over Leeds United last weekend, the Danish boss made it clear that his side have the dig needed to secure momentous victories even in testing circumstances.

He stated: “I think if you want to build any successful team you need mentality and character and cohesion and togetherness. No matter if you play like Inter or Barcelona or whatever style of play, you need that willingness to do everything to win, and I think we are building that more and more in the team.”

Of course, stiffer tests are to come and Frank’s men will need to show they have the mettle to claim a regular stream of points. Regardless, one loss in seven Premier League fixtures is a marked improvement on last term.

Ambition inside the building will lead that charge, and Spurs’ reported move for Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen is a sign that they aren’t willing to settle for just being part of the chasing pack.

Agbonlahor says Frank should be worried about Tottenham star who gives "zero"

The pundit claims he can’t be relied upon.

By
Emilio Galantini

Oct 4, 2025

Putting that aside, Frank will need to focus on the talent he has at his disposal for now, even if the January window offers an opportunity to add new faces to his collective.

Listening to that advice, the Spurs manager now believes he has a player that can rival some of the world’s best in his position over the coming years.

Frank makes exciting Archie Gray prediction

Profiling his role, Frank believes Archie Gray could one day be as good as Declan Rice or Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, and has urged the former Leeds United man to take his game to the next level under his stewardship.

He stated: “I see him as a midfielder who can play six or eight. That is his position and these days midfielders need to be more complete.

“You need to be a little bit of a six, a little bit of eight and 10 and two of the best in the world right now are probably Rodri and Declan Rice. They can do a little bit of everything. I see Archie, and they are big names to compare him to, but I see he has got the same potential.”

Making 51 appearances for a club of Tottenham’s standing at 19 years of age is a commendable achievement, though it remains to be seen if the England Under-21 international can one day rival two of the Premier League’s most established midfielders.

The New York Yankees lost Game 5 and the 2024 World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night. The loss may weigh most heavily on Aaron Judge, the pinstripes superstar whose intense struggles in the Fall Classic were capped off by a game-changing error in the fifth inning on a routine fly ball. The rally the Dodgers put forth in that inning would change the course of the game and lead to the Yankees' elimination.

It will be a long offseason for Judge and even longer if he (for some reason) tunes into sports talk radio at any point, because Yankees fans are going to be airing their grievances for the next few months. The airwaves received a fine example of that on Thursday morning, when a disgusted caller demanded the Yankees strip Judge of his captaincy and ship him to Queens to play for the New York Mets after his brutal showing.

This is Pat from East Islip:

"All this talk all morning has been about how Gerrit Cole didn't cover first base. This entire World Series comes down to Aaron Judge. He didn't hit, and in the game he did hit, he dropped a fly ball any Little Leaguer would have caught. He's a disgrace to the Yankee uniform, he should be stripped of his captaincy, and as far as I'm concerned, we should trade him to the Mets."

It's about what you'd expect. Sports fans are never more irrational than after a big loss and this was the biggest loss for the Yankees in over a decade. Judge had a majestic season and will likely end up with another MVP award for his efforts, but many New York fans will only remember his regrettable October performances.

The Yankees will not trade him to the Mets, nor will they strip him of his captaincy after he became the first player in pinstripes to earn the honor since Derek Jeter. But, Judge has a long road ahead of him in proving to the fans that his October slump will be a footnote in his venerable career rather than a legacy-defining stretch.

Liverpool and high-class forwards have long stood in a productive affinity, even before Jurgen Klopp changed Anfield’s direction, previously spiralling out of control under Brendan Rodgers’ wing.

There have been many. Mohamed Salah is the cream of the Premier League’s attacking pool right now, indeed one of the greatest players in Liverpool’s history, but Arne Slot’s recognised strikers, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota, have been beset with problems this year.

Nunez, in particular, has been a massive let-down. No transfer figure spent in Liverpool’s long history stretches north of the Uruguayan, who joined from Benfica for £85m in 2022 but, now aged 25, is set to depart this summer having failed to ever reach his potential.

He certainly hasn’t succeeded in replacing Bobby Firmino, one of the greatest modern forwards to grace Merseyside.

Why Bobby Firmino was so special

Liverpool signed Firmino from German club Hoffenheim for £29m in 2015, months before Klopp’s appointment changed everything.

Silky and stylish, he was perfect for Klopp’s gegenpressing style of football, an industrious worker, an intelligent technician and a balletic dancer across the frontline.

Distinctive and the connecting axis from which Salah and Sadio Mane swooped and struck from either flank, the Brazilian left at the end of his contract in 2023 with a legacy that most players could only dream of.

His brilliance is all the more sorely missed due to Nunez’s failure to live up to the billing, and Liverpool appear to yearn for that presence at number nine, ramping up their interest in the next version of the South American star.

Liverpool lining up their next Firmino

As per Caught Offside, Liverpool are looking to repeat their Firmino trick in signing an up-and-comer from the Bundesliga this summer, with Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike in FSG’s scope.

Ekitike has been one of the most talked-about forwards of the current campaign, with his performances catching the eyes of numerous high-profile suitors. Liverpool scouts, indeed, were in attendance when he scored against Tottenham in the Europa League one week ago.

And it’s thought that Liverpool are now moving the 22-year-old up to the top of their summer shopping list, though they would be required to fork out €85m (about £73m).

Why Hugo Ekitike would be perfect for Slot

Alexander Isak would be the dream. But dreams aren’t often bedded in reality, and Newcastle United’s £150m demands are sure to act as a strong repellent on FSG.

And that’s completely fair enough, especially when Ekitike – who data-driven site FBref record as one of Isak’s most statistically similar players – is ostensibly available for half the price.

One of the most attractive parts about Isak’s skill set is that he can marry varying parts of the striker’s game, unleashing himself as a truly dynamic and fearsome force.

Ekitike can be that focal point for Liverpool, indeed replicating Firmino in the process.

Ekitike, like Bobby Dazzler, would be signed from Germany as an up-and-coming attacking talent, albeit with a higher stock.

But the likeness doesn’t end there. Ekitike is not just “one of the best strikers out there,” according to analyst Ben Mattinson, but his protean approach mirrors that of Firmino’s, with Frankfurt correspondent Christopher Michel piling on the praise and claiming “his technique is one of the best in Europe and his foot is like glue for the ball.”

Having struggled to get going as a youngster at Paris Saint-Germain moved on loan to Frankfurt for the latter half of the 2023/24 season before signing permanently for a reported €35m (£30m) fee.

The first impression at his new home was one of promise. He struggled to acclimatise as winter turned to spring, though he finished the campaign off on firm footing, firing home in four of Frankfurt’s final five league matches of 2023/24, assisting in the other.

This season, the seeds of success have bloomed, with the France native having posted 21 goals and nine assists across all competitions, showcasing a balance of output that Firmino would be proud of.

Let’s look at how the players compare. Firmino didn’t play all that much during his final season at Liverpool but you can clearly see the similarities between the two silky forwards, with Ekitike actually proving he has a charged athleticism that could outstrip the Brazilian even in his heyday.

This energetic and clinical quality would give Liverpool exactly what they need next season, easing Salah’s burden while giving the likes of Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz (should he stay put) greater license to strike on goal and raise their scoring numbers.

Ekitike is what Liverpool thought Nunez would be, and while he hasn’t yet step foot on Premier League grass, the talented Frenchman has the perfect skill set to front Slot’s system and the data to back it all up.

As per FBref, he ranks among the top 7% of forwards across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for pass completion, the top 9% for shot-creating actions and the top 5% for all of progressive carries, successful take-ons and touches in the attacking penalty area per 90.

To put that another, more digestible, way: Ekitike is technically gifted, an able runner who not only drives his way into dangerous positions but maximises his chances of making things happen once arriving at such crucial junctures.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

He’s got Liverpool written all over him, and while £73m or thereabouts would put him among the Anfield side’s most expensive signings in history, the pointers suggest this would be a road worth heading down.

Imagine him & Van Dijk: Liverpool lead race for 'world's most in demand CB'

Liverpool are looking to sign one of football’s biggest talents this summer to partner Virgil van Dijk

By
Angus Sinclair

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