The likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Newcastle reportedly look to have been handed a huge boost in pursuit of exciting young forward Hugo Ekitike.
Reims president Jean-Pierre Caillot has basically confirmed that his club won’t stand in the way of Ekitike moving on this summer, with the club chief expecting plenty of interest in the 19-year-old.
Ekitike has an impressive record of ten goals and two assists in 23 games in all competitions so far this season, and it’s little surprise that Goal claim big clubs from the Premier League are interested in him.
The France Under-20 international is linked with the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Newcastle in Goal’s report, and it seems Reims are fully prepared to let him go for the right price.
Caillot says Reims previously turned down big money for Ekitike, but that they now need to think seriously about what that kind of offer could do for them if they accepted it, whilst stating clearly that it looks like their highly-rated wonderkid is “probably” going to leave.
“In Hugo’s case, he would waste time staying with us,” Caillot told Europe1, as translated by Goal.
“We refused an offer of €35million (£29m) this winter, which is a lot of money for a club like ours.
“That money will be used to grow and improve the club. Hugo will be allowed to go, and he’s probably going to leave.
“There wasn’t a big club that didn’t inquire for him.”
Ekitike could surely make an immediate impact at Man Utd, who are short of quality attacking players, but it’s also easy to see why Liverpool would be more tempting at this moment in time.
The Red Devils are not the force they once were, and many top players have gone backwards with moves to Old Trafford in recent times, whereas Liverpool continue to look like a force under Jurgen Klopp, even if there’d be more competition for places in that Reds attack.
Newcastle could be an interesting project as well, with the Magpies’ new owners surely able to afford to tempt Ekitike with big money, as well as a key role in their team as they put together an ambitious project to try to challenge the established big six in the Premier League.