Manchester United are coming off arguably their worst campaign in history. And it is very clear that changes are needed. It has been for a long, long time. The club do seem ready to back Ruben Amorim this summer. They have already signed Matheus Cunha and are closing in on a move for Bryan Mbeumo. Now, it looks like they want one of Chelsea's top targets as well.
Chelsea showed progress last season, finishing fourth in the Premier League and ending a relatively long wait for silverware by winning the Conference League. But considering the level of investment that has been made, they need to be aiming a lot higher.
Chelsea have already signed one forward this summer in the form of Liam Delap. It is believed that Hugo Ekitike is on their radar as well. But the race to sign him is starting to get crowded.
As reported by Florian Plettenberg, Manchester United have now officially entered the race for Ekitike. The club made contact with Eintracht Frankfurt within the last 48 hours, expressed concrete interest, and gathered all relevant information. Liverpool and Chelsea remain in the race.
Manchester United hand €100m transfer blow to Chelsea
Chelsea are believed to be unwilling to meet Eintracht Frankfurt's transfer demand, which is believed to be a €100 million fee. But the more clubs get involved in the race, the easier it is for the Bundesliga club to stick to their asking price.
There are serious question marks about whether Ektike is the solution for Chelsea. He has drawn comparisons with Alexander Isak for his style of play. But at the same time, the underlying numbers show that his finishing last season was worse than Nicolas Jackson.
There is a lot of scope for this to go wrong. Chelsea might be better placed going for a proven goalscorer like Victor Osimhen or Viktor Gyokeres instead of Ekitike.