Journalist Dean Jones has claimed that Newcastle United could still make a move for PSG’s Hugo Ekitike despite the striker turning down a move to the North East last summer.
Ekitike was once Newcastle’s number one target to lead the line in this new era under the PIF ownership, but the Frenchman wasn’t so keen on the idea.
Dean Jones has been speaking to GiveMeSport and has now revealed that Newcastle are still interested in attaining the 21-year-old 18 months after their failure to capture him.
Ekitike still on Newcastle’s radar
While at Stade Reims, Ekitike was admired at Newcastle who came so close to bringing the striker in before he rejected the move after PSG came in.
Instead, Newcastle ended up signing Alexander Isak from Real Sociedad as their new star striker and it’s now pretty obvious who came out of that situation with the better deal.
Now, after Ekitike grew frustrated with the lack of playing time at PSG and has made just one appearance in Ligue 1 so far this season, the £30m attacker could be on the move again and a move to Newcastle is still not off the table.
Speaking to GiveMeSport, Jones said: “The situation around Ekitike is interesting because Newcastle still genuinely interested him. They had a long-standing interest in him previously, and I don’t think the fact that he didn’t choose them last time around will especially go against him or anything if they choose to pursue this avenue.
“I think that there is a concern at Newcastle about being left short in attack in the new year, and I think that they’re starting to look towards ways that they could reinvent that attack or at least bolster it up.
“Since Ekitike is not getting gametime at PSG, he’s emerging as a player they’ve got well-sourced reports on in scouting.”
Newcastle face PSG on Tuesday night in what will be a crucial decider in Group F of the Champions League, though Ekitike is very unlikely to play a part in the fixture having not been in the squad for the previous four group games.
Newcastle need more attackers
Newcastle cannot go another six months relying on the availability of Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson and expect to be successful.
Isak missed half of the season last year and has already struggled with a groin injury in this campaign while Wilson is now expected to be out for around six weeks after picking up a knock against Borussia Dortmund.
It’s a very dangerous game to be playing by only having these two natural strikers, so Newcastle must go into the January market for a new attacker if they have any hope of qualifying for the Champions League again.
The difficult task for Newcastle will be finding someone who is happy to be playing backup and will likely only see first-team minutes when there is an injury, which Ekitike has shown he isn’t exactly keen on at PSG.
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