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Omar Marmoush of Manchester City celebrates after scoring their 2nd goal during the Premier League match between Manchester City FC and Crystal Palace FC at Etihad Stadium(Image: 2025 Simon Stacpoole/Offside)

Liverpool look set to be in the market for a new striker this summer, with both Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota failing to fully convince under Arne Slot.

The Uruguayan, who has struggled for starting opportunities under the Dutchman, could be moved on after three years at Anfield.

Ahead of facing Leicester City this weekend, Slot offered two key attributes when he was asked what he looks for from a number nine - goals and work-rate.

“You want the difficult answer of the simple answer?” he said.

He needs to produce goals.

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“But apart from that, in modern day football, a number nine needs to work hard and be part of an intense pressing team.

“If you look at the teams now playing in the semi-final of the Champions League, all 11 players work their a** off.

While they are the highest scorers in the Premier League with 74 goals, Jota and Nunez have only scored six and five times respectively in the English top-flight this season.

The Reds have been linked with new forwards all season long, with Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak grabbing the most transfer gossip column space since the January transfer window.

But prior to that, Omar Marmoush was perhaps the forward linked most following a prolific first half of the season with Eintracht Frankfurt as reports suggested Liverpool were scouting the Egyptian.

Having returned 17 goals and six assists for Frankfurt from 41 appearances last year, he was in even better form this season with the forward returning 20 goals and 14 assists from just 26 appearances for the club.

With Liverpool previously moving for Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo in the winters of 2022 and 2023, having feared on missing out on the pair if they had they not, transfer-hungry supporters perhaps hoped for a repeat in January.

Yet considering the Reds already possessed six forwards - though both Nunez and Federico Chiesa had been linked with exits - a mid-season swoop was not anticipated.

Sure enough, when Man City instead made their move for Marmoush, there was never any suggestion of Liverpool rivalling the reigning Premier League champions.

Completing a £59m switch to the Etihad towards the end of January, the 26-year-old has enjoyed a lively start to his City career with seven goals and an assist from 14 appearances.

And by moving mid-season, City have ensured they will not need to enter the market for a new striker in the summer at a time when Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United are expected to all pursue new number nines.

So if not Marmoush, then who could be the answer for the Reds?

Well perhaps the answer is rather close at the Egyptian’s former home.

While the forward is still the joint-third leading goalscorer in the Bundesliga (15 league goals) behind Harry Kane and Patrik Schick, his former strike-partner Hugo Ekitike is only just behind him (14 goals).

Liverpool have also found themselves regularly linked with the 22-year-old in 2025, with the Frenchman boasting 21 goals and nine assists from 43 appearances in all competitions this season.

Frankfurt often played Ekitike alongside Marmoush upfront during the first half of the season, as both flourished in front of goal even if it was the Egyptian who grabbed more headlines across the continent.

But now still thriving as a lone striker, the France Under-21s international looks set to be a highly-sought forward this summer.

Quick and powerful, standing at 6ft 3, Ekitike certainly knows where the goal is while he also thrives when dribbling with the ball, creating chances for team-mates and dropping deep to receive possession.

The official Bundesliga website last year also described him as a ‘real workhorse’ who is ‘known for his willingness to press’.

And with so many top Premier League sides also in the same market, Frankfurt’s Frenchman is set to at least be a man in demand.


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