Ekitiké, Gyökeres or Delap? - Five graphics comparing new Premier League strikers

Who will be the biggest success? 

Strikers have dominated this summer transfer windows. Many top clubs have been on the hunt for a no.9 to take them to the next level, and plenty of money has been spent on new forwards by Premier League clubs. Whilst the biggest transfer of them all could still take place later this summer, with Newcastle's Alexander Isak heavily linked with a division-record move to Liverpool, the Reds themselves, Arsenal and Chelsea have already splashed out to bring in a new striker this transfer window.

Liverpool have signed Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitiké, Arsenal have brought in Sporting goal-machine Viktor Gyökeres, whilst Chelsea have turned to Ipswich centre-forward Liam Delap. But which of those strikers will be the biggest success? And which team have struck the best deal? Here at Transfermarkt, we have put together five graphics to compare the three new Premier League strikers.

Five graphics comparing Hugo Ekitiké, Viktor Gyökeres, and Liam Delap

Let's start by looking at what most people consider the most important factor for strikers - goals. When we look back at last season and compare the amount of goals scored in all competitions for club and country there is one standout winner. Gyökeres scored 54 goals for Sporting and Sweden across the 2024/25 campaign - that's a figure not matched by any other player in Europe's top 10 leagues. Ekitiké managed 22 goals, whilst Delap scored just 12. However, Gyökeres' numbers came in the lowest ranked leagues.

When we switch to focus on top-five leagues (Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1) goal contributions (goals + assists) across each player's career, then pendulum swings. Gyökeres has never managed to provide a single goal or assist or even make a single appearance in one of the top-five leagues. Whilst Delap has 14 goal contributions to his name in this category - all of which were with Ipswich in the Premier League last term. Ekitiké leads the way on this front, having 50 goal contributions in Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga with Paris-Saint-Germain and Frankfurt respectively.

However, if we turn our attention to a bit more longevity and focus on the career goals of the three strikers, then once again Gyökeres leads the way. The Swede is the oldest of the three, being 27-years-old compared to Ekitiké (23) and Delap (22), so it's only natural he is further ahead, but it is by some distance. Gyökeres has scored 174 senior goals in all club competitions - most of which have come with Sporting in the last two season - compared to Ekitiké's 44 and Delap's 26.

Now time to start looking at the money. Firstly, let's take a look at the current market values of the three strikers. Both Ekitiké and Gyökeres boast a market value of €75 million, and both saw huge increases to reach this figure over the course of last season, but with a much sharper increase for the Frenchman. Ekitiké started the last campaign worth just €20m, and saw his value rise by +€55m. Gyökeres started the season at a market value of €55m, with a +€20m increase over the course of the campaign. However, being four years Ekitiké's senior, its understandable that his market value rose less. Meanwhile, Delap has a market value of just €40m, but did see his worth increase by +€32m across last season.

When we take into account both the market values and fees of the players, we can make an interesting assessment of which clubs may have got the best value for money. Both Arsenal and Chelsea paid less than the player's current market value for Gyökeres and Delap respectively. The Gunners paid €65.8m for the Swedish striker - €9.2m less than his value. Whilst the Blues paid €35.5m for Delap - €4.5m less than his current worth. Meanwhile, Liverpool paid a huge €95m for Ekitiké - €20m more than his current market value. Only time will tell which deal will turn out to be the best, but the Premier League has certainly added some exciting new strikers to it's roster.