What €80m Hugo Ekitike REALLY said about supporting Man Utd

Tom Weber

Updated: 29 Mar 2025 18:34 GMT
4 min read

Manchester United target Hugo Ekitike grew up supporting the Red Devils.

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The Frenchman has been impressive in the Bundesliga this season. Ekitike initially formed a thrilling partnership with Omar Marmoush, but he has increasingly had to shoulder the goalscoring burden by himself following the Egyptian's January move to Man City.

STATS

Hugo Ekitiké

F (C)

E. Frankfurt

Hugo Ekitiké

F (C)

E. Frankfurt

38

Games
19

Goals
8

Assists

With the exception of a brief lull, the 22-year-old has done an excellent job, so much so in fact that Eintracht Frankfurt fully expect him to leave the club in the summer transfer window.

The Eagles have slapped a hefty €80 million price tag on Ekitike, though it remains to be seen if they will actually be able to get such a whopping figure. One thing is for sure, though: the striker has no shortage of suitors.

Ekitike has been linked with the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool, but he has most persistently been associated with Man Utd. This is somewhat strange considering that they won't be able to afford him as things stand.

Ekitike 'loves Manchester'

Finances aside, a move to Old Trafford should certainly appeal to the France U21 international. In recent days, a quote of his has been making the rounds on the internet in which he reveals his support for Man Utd.

The origin of the statement appears to be shrouded in mystery. It has been claimed that it comes from a recent interview with Frankfurt club media and that Ekitike simply responded 'Man Utd' when asked who his favourite team are.

In actual fact, the quote originates from a three-month-old interview Ekitike and teammate Fares Chaibi gave to German broadcaster RTL, who own the TV rights to the Europa League where Frankfurt compete this season.

When the two were asked which players they idolised growing up, Chaibi responded first, saying: "I don't necessarily have an idol, [Zinedine] Zidane maybe. When I was little, I watched a lot of videos of him. My father was a big fan of his, he showed me many of those videos.

"[Lionel] Messi, of course, too. Both of us grew up with one of the best generations in football history. Messi, [Cristiano] Ronaldo, Neymar. To be honest, it was the same procedure every weekend. You turned on the TV and knew you would watch something magical."

When the question was put to Ekitike, he did not name a player but a team: "I remember that my favourite club since childhood has been Man Utd. I have always loved Manchester.

"But the thing is, like he said, we're part of the same generation, so we followed the same kind of players. Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, Zidane, [Paul] Pogba. We watched games that awed us and that inspired us to try and recreate things on the pitch."