Newcastle Reignite Hugo Ekitike Pursuit with Club-Record Bid in Sight
Magpies take the Ekitike chase to Austria as striker’s £86m price tag looms
Newcastle United’s love story with Hugo Ekitike has officially entered its second act. Two years after missing out on the French forward to Paris Saint-Germain, the Magpies are back, this time with a club-record offer on the table and a whole lot more confidence.
Sources in Germany say Newcastle chiefs have been busy holding face-to-face meetings with Eintracht Frankfurt over the past week. Not in London, not on Zoom, in Germany. They’re that serious. The latest round of talks? They’ve shifted to Austria, where both parties coincidentally find themselves during pre-season.
Frankfurt, fresh off a Champions League qualification and a 22-goal haul from Ekitike last season, aren’t budging easily. Their price tag? A cool £86 million. That would shatter Newcastle’s current record signing, Alexander Isak’s £63 million move from Real Sociedad back in 2022.
But here’s the twist: this isn’t just a one-horse race. Manchester United have had their eye on the 23-year-old too. Chelsea and Liverpool? Yep, they’ve flirted with the idea as well. But it’s Newcastle who are making the loudest noise right now.
And while they’ve already dropped £55 million on Anthony Elanga this summer, it looks like they’re far from done.
Why Ekitike? Why Now?
Once upon a time, Hugo Ekitike was the fourth-choice striker at Stade Reims. No goals in Ligue 1, a loan spell in Denmark, and a whole lot of “maybe-next-year” energy. But fast forward a few seasons, and the man is channeling his inner Kylian Mbappe.
Literally.
Oscar Garcia, his coach at Reims, once designed a growth plan for him based on Mbappe’s development. Realistic? Maybe not. But Ekitike didn’t just accept the challenge, he upgraded it. “Within months, he wanted to reach the same level as Mbappe,” said Garcia. That’s the kind of mindset that turns heads in Premier League boardrooms.
Sure, some coaches didn’t vibe with his confidence. Call it arrogance, call it swagger but Ekitike always believed he belonged at the top. And judging by Frankfurt’s valuation and the queue of English suitors, he might not be wrong.
What’s Next?
Newcastle are clearly going all in. They’ve got the location, the leverage, and apparently the money. All that’s left is to see if they can convince both Frankfurt and the player to make it happen.
If they pull it off, Ekitike could be the missing piece in Eddie Howe’s next evolution, a statement signing for a club that’s no longer just dreaming about the Champions League, but actively preparing for it.
So… second time lucky?
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