Richard Hughes will cause earthquake with £56m deal for midfield powerhouse

Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes is poised to detonate one of the summer’s biggest transfer tremors by tabling a club-record £56 million swoop for Eintracht Frankfurt’s Swedish midfield dynamo Hugo Larsson, according to a report from German outlet Fussball Daten.

The 21-year-old, who joined Frankfurt from Malmo in 2023, has rapidly evolved into the Bundesliga’s most coveted box-to-box engine, averaging 12.4 km of high-intensity running per match – a statistic that has immediately placed him at the top of the Reds’ recruitment ledger. Capable of operating either as a disciplined No6 or in a more advanced role, Larsson blends relentless stamina with acute tactical intelligence, ticking every box in Hughes’ rebuild blueprint.

Frankfurt have slapped an asking price of between £52 million and £56 million on their prize asset, a figure that would shatter Liverpool’s previous outlay for a central midfielder and send seismic ripples through the German game. Arsenal have already tested the waters with a structured £35 million plus £9 million in performance-related bonuses, but the Bundesliga club, renowned for extracting maximum value from outgoing stars such as Hugo Ekitike and Omar Marmoush, are holding out for a total package closer to €65 million.

Larsson’s current deal runs until 2029 and yields €3 million per season, yet Premier League interest could quadruple those wages. A Liverpool contract worth roughly £200,000 a week – the equivalent of €12 million annually – would parachute the Swede straight into the upper echelons of Anfield’s pay scale and intensify the tug-of-war with the Gunners.

“Arsenal and Liverpool are leading the chase,” the German report insists, adding that “a historic offer for Larsson is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.” With the summer window approaching, all signs point to Frankfurt sanctioning another blockbuster sale – and Hughes may be ready to trigger the earthquake.