Everton would likely have expected to face plenty of competition in pursuit of Hugo Ekitike when the Premier League’s transfer window opens again in January.
But with Newcastle United seemingly once bitten and twice shy, The Toffees may been handed an early Christmas gift from their neighbours in the north.
According to TEAMtalk, some at St James Park are now ‘majorly against’ Hugo Ekitike’s belated arrival on Tyneside. Newcastle were famously rebuffed by the France U21 international back in 2022 – Ekitike explaining that PSG was an offer he could not turn down after the Magpies had agreed a £25 million fee with Reims – and that is now likely to work against the seldom-seen striker as he looks to secure an escape from the Parc des Princes bench.
Newcastle United wary of Hugo Ekitike
Newcastle, TEAMtalk add, also have reservations about Ekitike’s lack of top level experience. That impressive breakthrough campaign at Reims is the 21-year-old’s only full season of senior football, Paris Saint-Germain boss Luis Enrique handing him just nine minutes off the bench so far in 2023/24.
A welcome boost for Everton, then, presuming they do not have similar reservations. They, along with Crystal Palace and West Ham, are expected to throw their hat into the ring for Ekitike when the Christmas trees go back in their boxes. Everton submitted a £29 million bid in August (The Standard). And, while that ten-point deduction certainly won’t make Goodison Park a more tempting destination for potential signings, the prospect of regular first-team football in Everton blue could still be enough to tempt a player who has featured only once of the bench in the last three months.
“There is something very special about him,” Ekitike’s former Reims coach Oscar Garcia told the Ligue 1 website after he scored 11 Ligue 1 goals as a teenager.
“(Ekitike is) young, and he has the quality to become a very good player. He’s started a lot of games now. He’s a young man with a lot of quality but also a lot to improve on. But he works hard in training.”
Fresh chance for Everton or West Ham
Everton and Crystal Palace have scored just 14 and 13 league goals respectively this season. And while West Ham have found goals far easier to come by, neither Michail Antonio nor Danny Ings have found even a semblance of form since the campaign began.
So while that Newcastle ship may have sailed for Hugo Ekitike, there are still plenty of boats in the harbour waiting to take him across the Channel.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
