Over the summer, Arsenal and Newcastle both made attempts to bring Hugo Ekitike to the Premier League.
The 20-year-old put his name up in lights at Reims last season with 11 goals in 27 appearances, which caught the attention of Mikel Arteta and Eddie Howe.
Eventually, Ekitike decided to join Paris Saint-Germain in a deal worth €35m (£30m) – however, the youngster has not enjoyed a great start to life at the Parc des Princes.
What’s the story?
Well, the French media have already suggested that the PSG No.44 made a career mistake in turning down a move to Newcastle.
Now, Eric Rabesandratana – who used to play for PSG – has criticised Ekitike when speaking to France Bleu Paris.
The 50-year-old said: “I’m not convinced by Hugo Ekitike because he has shown mental weaknesses. We need players who are focused on football, and I’m not sure that moaning every two seconds, half-bothering to do the exercises, because it bores him and he’d rather play games, is enough.
“No, you have to show a perfect state of mind to be considered by the manager. For the moment, I find that he is not yet professional. He’s more of a kid than a professional. He must grow.”
Now, Rabesandratana certainly doesn’t sugarcoat his words – to say the least.
So far this season, the France Under-20 international has only played 66 minutes of football in Ligue 1 across five appearances, with Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe unsurprisingly preferred by Christophe Galtier.
Newcastle have since moved on with the £63m signing of Alexander Isak, while Arsenal also found a new striker over the summer in Gabriel Jesus.
Hugo Ekitike snub was fortunate for Arsenal & Newcastle
In our view, Ekitike’s decision to turn down offers from the Premier League in favour of joining PSG has worked out well for Arsenal and Newcastle.
Of course, we would never definitively say that it was a bullet dodged, as the Frenchman is just 20, and could still shock many people in Paris.
However, at the moment, it seems Ekitike needs time to develop further, something Arsenal and Newcastle couldn’t afford to give him.
Following the departures of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Arteta needed a new striker who could make an instant impact.
Newcastle were also looking for someone to hit the ground running and give them a significant upgrade on Callum Wilson and Chris Wood.
Ekitike may cross paths with Arsenal or Newcastle in future, but as things stand, it was probably for the best that the Gunners and the Magpies missed out.
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