Newcastle United are still on the hunt for a forward this summer, despite the fact they thought they had already found their man. After negotiating with Stade de Reims for breakout striker Hugo Ekitike, they couldn’t come to an agreement with the Frenchman’s agents.
That’s according to Le Parisien and they also reported on Ekitike’s future, with NUFC Blog sharing that information. In contrast to Newcastle, Paris Saint-Germain have reached an agreement with Ekitike to join the club. Yet the French champions have so far been unable to find a deal with Reims.
The Magpies and Reims had settled on an initial £30m fee plus £8.5m in add-ons for Ekitike. PSG are hoping that Reims will cede on their demands in order to reach a deal with them.
This flies in the face of the idea that highly-coveted players join PSG purely for the money, as Newcastle would likely have been able to offer similar terms. Clearly in France the allure of PSG is holds sway, as Ekitike could’ve have become the face of Newcastle’s attack, while he will likely play a bit-part role for the Parisians. Equally, being able to play with Neymar Junior, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe is quite the attraction.
