L'Équipe Report: One half of Ekitiké's purchase clause triggered

France’s preeminent footballing publication reports that the automatic purchase clause in striker Hugo Ekitiké’s loan deal with Eintracht Frankfurt is close to being triggered.

Despite the fact that he’s played relatively little (just three league starts since joining Eintracht Frankfurt on loan this January), PSG striker Hugo Ekitiké nears a permanent move to his German club. France’s preeminent sporting publication, L’Équipe, claims that an automatic purchase obligation in the 21-year-old’s loan agreement is close to being triggered. One half of the clause has already been met. 

The obligatory purchase clause first requires that Ekitiké appear in half of all potential games for Eintracht. This poses no problem as, by virtue of six league appearances as a sub and two games off the bench in the Europa Conference League, the striker has made it onto the pitch in nine of 15 possible instances for the SGE. Ekitiké must now start in three of Frankfurt’s four remaining Bundesliga matches. 

When signing Ekitiké on loan in January, the RheinMain club made no secret of the fact that they wished to keep him permanently. The terms of the loan were unusually exorbitant, with Frankfurt reportedly paying more than €3 million for a six-month-long arrangement. L’Équipe reports that a further €16.5 million will flow into PSG’s coffers if the player makes three more starts. 

Ekitiké featured in SGE head-coach Dino Toppmöller’s starting XI in a crucial league fixture against Augsburg, scoring what would prove to be the match-winner with his maiden Bundesliga goal. It stands to reason that the Hessians will attempt to trigger their loanee’s mandatory clause rather than attempt to negotiate his sale over the summer.