Liverpool are said to have reacted to Newcastle shutting the door on Isak talks by launching a bid for Ekitike, and Fabrizio Romano reports on Thursday morning that they are now ahead of the Magpies in the race to sign the French forward. The Reds expect to sign Ekitike if all hopes of an Isak deal end.

The battle for Hugo Ekitike is already a complicated one. There has been interest in the Frenchman all summer but Newcastle United were the first club to try and take things up a level, tabling a £69.3million offer earlier this week which was rejected by Eintracht Frankfurt.