Newcastle United trying to sign Hugo Ekitike in January – L’Equipe | OneFootball

Newcastle United are going to try and sign Hugo Ekitike in January, according to L’Equipe.

Their update / story claiming that Eddie Howe faces competition from Lyon in this next transfer window.

Impossible to tell these days with Hugo Ekitike when these claims are made, whether there is any substance in them.

What we do know for sure is that back in 2022 Eddie Howe and Newcastle United WERE did rate the striker and were trying to sign him, that a transfer fee was agreed with Reims, but the then 19 year old chose instead to wait for PSG’s rival offer and signed for them instead.

Fair to say things haven’t gone well for Hugo Ekitike overall at PSG.

He didn’t do too badly last season in terms of opportunities, Hugo Ekitike making 32 PSG appearances, with 14 starts and 18 sub appearances, scoring four goals in total as he featured in Ligue 1, domestic cups and Champions League.

Things have fallen off a cliff this season though, only nine minutes of first team football in total and that was as a sub on the opening day of the season, in a Ligue 1 match against FC Lorient.

PSG struggling badly with FFP limitations and Hugo Ekitike infuriating the French club in the summer, when he refused to move to Eintracht Frankfurt as part of the deal that brought Randal Kolo Muani to PSG.

His punishment has clearly been to exiled from any first team action, the now 21 year old Hugo Ekitike not even named on the bench in any PSG match since August 2023, whether that be Ligue 1, Champions League, or domestic cup action.

Well, one thing for sure, Hugo Ekitike needs to move.

Also, quite clearly, PSG now in a very weak position. As everybody knows they are desperate to shift the striker.

So with Newcastle United having to be thoughtful of FFP limitations themselves, if a loan deal is possible, then not impossible that Eddie Howe could revisit a player he was interested in, with the potential of a real bargain if able to work his magic on Hugo Ekitike.

Considering the improvement he has overseen in so many Newcastle United players already, who knows what could be possible with a young raw striker who was much sought after by many clubs only last year…