‘Ekitike can become a top striker’

Hugo Ekitike had played 86 minutes of league football for Stade Reims prior to this season. Eighteen games, eight goals and one huge bid from Newcastle later, his progress has been remarkable.

"Hugo came back in pre-season and was the fourth striker on our list," Reims coach Oscar Garcia tells Sky Sports. It did not take long for that to change. "We saw during that pre-season that he had a lot of the qualities required to become a top striker."

At 19, Ekitike's strike rate stands out. His eight goals have come in just 956 minutes of football, with four of them scored from inside the six-yard box. He is already proving himself to be an expert goal poacher but there is more to his game than that.

"Technically he is so good," says Oscar.

"He is fast. He has to develop a little bit more physically but he is a player who, for me, can play for a top club. We have improved him. He should keep improving."

This is the model at Stade Reims. Twelve players under the age of 21 have featured in the league this season, far more than any Premier League club. The plan is to develop them and then move them on. The interest in Ekitike suggests that the policy working.

Oscar is naturally frustrated when young talent departs but he understood the remit when he arrived in the summer. "It is not normal that what a club explains to you before signing is true, but here it is true. We have young players, talented players," he explains.

"The philosophy of the club is to promote those young players, give them the chance to play in a good league before going to a bigger club in another country. I like so much to be working with these young players. For me, it is a gift. It is fantastic as a coach."

Reims is a famous old club. Champions of France