Newcastle United are reportedly back on the trail of French striker Hugo Ekitike, currently plying his trade – quite successfully, it seems – at Eintracht Frankfurt. The pursuit comes with a significant reported price tag: a cool €75 million, according to recent reports.
At just 23, Ekitike is a name familiar to Newcastle fans, albeit perhaps with a tinge of `what could have been`. The club was heavily linked with him back in January 2022 when he was breaking through at Stade de Reims. That move, however, didn`t materialise, with the player opting to stay in France at the time. A strategic choice, perhaps, though his subsequent steps proved… interesting.
Ekitike`s path since then has been anything but straight. After his promising spell at Reims, which saw him net 11 goals in 26 games in 2021-22, he made a high-profile loan move to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2022. His time in the capital wasn`t the fairytale many expected; a relatively disappointing season saw him struggle for consistent impact. But football careers often have plot twists. A move to Eintracht Frankfurt followed, initially on loan in February 2024, becoming permanent later that summer. And it`s in Germany where Ekitike has truly found his footing, and then some.
His 2024-25 campaign for Frankfurt was, by all accounts, stellar. He bagged an impressive 22 goals and provided 12 assists across 48 appearances in the Bundesliga and Europa League. This kind of output is precisely why his name is back on the radar of top clubs.
Reports suggest talks are currently underway between Newcastle and Frankfurt regarding the €75 million valuation. It`s a hefty fee, reflective of his recent scorching form, not his previous struggles. Interestingly, Newcastle isn`t the only big English club to have eyed Ekitike; Manchester United and Chelsea have also been linked with the French U21 international in the past.
So, two years after their initial attempt, Newcastle are pushing hard for Ekitike again. This time, they`re pursuing a player who has navigated the choppy waters of a challenging PSG spell and emerged as a highly productive forward in the Bundesliga. Whether they can land their man at the reported €75 million price remains to be seen, but the pursuit for the resurgent striker is certainly one to watch.
