It has now become clear why Newcastle United ended pursuit of Hugo Ekitike | OneFootball

A new update has now made clear why Newcastle United ended their pursuit of Hugo Ekitike.

That new update coming from Sebastian Stafford-Bloor and David Ornstein reporting for The Athletic late on Saturday night.

It was previously reported early in the week that Newcastle United had seen an €80m (£69.5m) offer rejected by Eintracht Frankfurt for Hugo Ekitike.

I would have been more than happy for United to have signed the 23 year old as second striker to Alexander Isak, to play alongside Isak and if needed deputise for him as a sole striker. However, I did think that £70m was a bit over the top for what Ekitike has achieved so far.

Liverpool of course then made an approach for Hugo Ekitike and entered talks with the Bundesliga club.

This new exclusive from The Athletic says that now; ‘The outline of an agreement is in place between Liverpool and Eintracht Frankfurt for the proposed transfer of forward Hugo Ekitike. Work is still needed to formally get the deal done and that is expected in the next day or so.’

The Athletic report that their information is that Eintracht Frankfurt are expecting this to be a new club record, surpassing the €95m (£82.3m) deal when Randal Kolo Muani left for PSG in 2023.

I think this points to just how desperate Liverpool are to land a first choice striker with less than four weeks until they kick off in the Premier League. Ekitike had a very decent season scoring 15 league goals in the Bundesliga in 2024/25.  However, apart from that, after scoring 10 Ligue 1 goals for Reims in 20211/22, Hugo Ekitike only scored another seven league goals across the next two seasons (2022/23 and 2023/24) for PSG and Eintracht Frankfurt.

To pay £85m+ for a striker who has had one good season in a league that is significantly weaker than the Premier League, is crazy money, even considering how the market is these days.

As I say, I thought that reported Newcastle United £69.5m bid for Hugo Ekitike was really pushing it.

Actually, this new report from The Athletic also states that this bid from Newcastle earlier in the week was actually for a total of €75m (£65m) and not €80m (£69.5m), which does sound more realistic.

It sounds like Eintracht Frankfurt have played a blinder here and if they end up with £85m from Liverpool, £20m more than Newcastle United’s offer, then it looks incredible money for a 23 year old striker who has had that one very decent season, albeit in a weaker league than the English top tier.

I know Yoane Wissa is five years older than Hugo Ekitike and is at an age beyond that of the normal Newcastle United profile.

However, I find it bizarre that after reports that Newcastle were switching their attention to the Brentford striker, that then many United fans were so dismissive of Wissa. Playing for an unfashionable club he scored 19 Premier League goals last season, the most of any striker who doesn’t take penalties. If United brought him in to play alongside Alexander Isak and if necessary play as a lone striker at times, I think that would give NUFC very strong looking options in attack.