"I know..." - Journalist drops major Newcastle claim on "talented" £25m star

Hugo Ekitike is unsure about a move to Newcastle United amid interest from Borussia Dortmund, according to Daily Express journalist Ryan Taylor.

The Reims striker continues to be linked with a switch to St James’ Park, but Taylor thinks Dortmund sniffing around complicates things.

Newcastle failed to sign Ekitike back in January, despite having a £33m bid accepted for the 19-year-old, but still look to be keen on acquiring his services.

According to 90min, the Tyneside club are confident they will finally land their target this summer when the transfer window reopens.

Prior, Football Insider reported something similar, claiming that Newcastle were in the driving seat to sign Ekitike in a potential £25m deal.

The Magpies signed Chris Wood at the start of the year, while Callum Wilson finished the season strongly after scoring two goals against Wood’s former side Burnley, but it is clear that Eddie Howe wants more firepower going into the next campaign.

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Taylor thinks Ekitike has doubts about joining Newcastle at this stage of his career and believes Dortmund could be the better fit for the French youngster.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, the Daily Express journalist said: “The difficultly with Ekitike is we don’t quite know exactly why the deal didn’t happen in the final days of the [last] window because Newcastle had a bid accepted, and it suggested that Ekitike was sort of unsure about going to a club like Newcastle at this stage of his career where he wasn’t necessarily going to start every week.

“I know Dortmund are interested as well. Obviously, that would probably be a clearer pathway for him, and Dortmund play Champions League