Newcastle: Keith Downie makes Hugo Ekitike claim | OneFootball

An update has emerged on Newcastle United and their interest in Reims centre-forward Hugo Ekitike…

What’s the talk?

Sky Sports reporter Keith Downie has revealed that manager Eddie Howe is eager to sign the young Frenchman and personally wants this deal to be done.

He told Football FanCast: “It’s obviously a player that he’s aware of and someone that he would be keen to bring in and so it’s not just the recruitment team at the club. It’s Eddie as well that really likes him.”

This comes after recent reports that the Magpies are in talks over a potential deal to sign the forward, as the club look for striker cover with Callum Wilson out injured.

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Buzzing

Newcastle fans will surely be buzzing with this news for several reasons. Firstly, they will be happy with the fact that Howe is having a strong say on the players the club are trying to recruit, rather than the ownership bringing in signings and forcing him to work with them regardless of what he thinks.

It shows that there is a good working relationship between the manager and the board and they trust his judgement as they are willing to make moves on targets he wants to acquire.

They will also be buzzing as it could mean the team is improved by his arrival. The Magpies are 19th in the table after their draw with Watford at the weekend. They were able to overtake Burnley but saw Norwich shoot above them after the Canaries beat Everton 2-1, highlighting how close it is between the teams down at the bottom end of the league.

This shows how desperate Newcastle are to improve their team as they need to start picking up points to move out of the bottom three and avoid relegation to the Championship. Adding more goals to their side could be crucial to their efforts, particularly given the lack of goalscorers in the squad currently.

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Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin are the only players in the team with more than one Premier League goal to their name for the Toon, although Chris Wood scored three in the first half of the campaign for Burnley. This suggests that Howe is in dire need of further attacking talent to be added to his team and that is what Ekitike could bring.

He has scored eight goals in ten starts for Reims in Ligue 1. This suggests that he could come in and provide a lift at the top end of the pitch if he is able to adapt to the English style of football.