Hugo Ekitike’s agent explains why forward turned down Newcastle

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The agent of Hugo Ekitike has offered an explanation as to why the forward turned down Newcastle United in January.

The teenager was heavily linked with a move to St. James’ Park throughout the winter window.

Newcastle came calling for him on deadline day, and reportedly had a bid of £25 million (rising to £33 million) accepted by Reims (Sky Sports).

But ultimately a move didn’t come to fruition, with Ekitike opting to stay put.

He’ll now see out the season with Reims. But there have been reports several clubs are already circling him ahead of the summer window.

Newcastle will no doubt need to retain their Premier League status to stand any chance of landing him in the summer if indeed they want to try again for him.

Judging by the comments of Ekitike’s agent, the club’s current predicament was a big factor in the player choosing not to move.

He said (via Chronicle): “We were not convinced about the sports project and we saw no short or medium-term plan with their approach.

“Hugo has achieved great things in just six months but as he is attached to the club, we agreed with the leaders to end the season with Reims.”

In the end, Newcastle finished the January with five new additions.

Only one of those additions was an attacking player, with Chris Wood signing from Burnley.

It remains to be seen if Newcastle needed another body, with Callum Wilson still on the sidelines.

It is little surprise Ekitike rejected Newcastle move

Really, it is not that surprising that Ekitike turned Newcastle down in the end.

There were probably a number of others who didn’t make the move for the same reason.

Newcastle are only a few months deep with their new owners, and obviously there is a big threat of relegation at the moment.

The main aim right now is to keep the club in the Premier League.

It is likely that, those players that were on the fence about coming to Newcastle last month, would feel much more comfortable joining in the summer if the club was still in the Premier League.