Back in July, PSG completed the €35m (£31m) signing of Hugo Ekitike from Reims, beating Newcastle to the French wonderkid’s signature.
The Magpies eventually turned to Alexander Isak after missing out on the France Under-20 international, sealing a club-record £63m deal for the Sweden international.
Now, Ekitike probably wishes he chose to join Eddie Howe rather than Christophe Galtier.
What’s the story?
Well, Newcastle made a real push for the 20-year-old, and there was space for him in the attack.
Strangely, Ekitike chose to compete with the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi at the Parc des Princes, where he has – rather unsurprisingly – failed to receive much game time.
Now, even one of the biggest news outlet in France – le10sport – think the youngster might have made a ‘career mistake’ in moving to Paris.
They write: “PSG, Newcastle. A career mistake for Hugo Ekitike? Newcastle could have been a better option. Ekitike was notably tracked by Newcastle, the English club had made Ekitike their priority. However, this did not happen.
“A mistake for the PSG player? Had Ekitike signed for the Magpies, the former Reims striker could have had a lot more playing time than he has at PSG.”
It’s certainly hard to argue against that at the moment.
Of course, Ekitike could still have a very bright future with PSG, although at this stage of his career, he needs regular game time to aid his development.
Newcastle reacted well to Hugo Ekitike snub
In our view, Newcastle did well to sign Isak after missing out on Ekitike.
Admittedly, the Magpies had to pay a substantial sum for the Swede – far more than the £31m PSG spent on Ekitike – although we think Newcastle have the better player.
Isak is incredibly experienced for a 22-year-old, having already racked up 37 caps for Sweden, as well as 194 first-team appearances throughout his career.
As we saw on his Premier League debut against Liverpool, he also boasts an impressive amount of confidence – Isak scored an excellent goal against one of the best around in Alisson, while also having another disallowed for a narrow offside decision.
As long as he keeps that up, nobody on Tyneside will care about being rejected by Ekitike.
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