Newcastle dealt blow in £36m Hugo Ekitike transfer pursuit with work 'still to be done'

Newcastle United reportedly “still have work to do” to complete their £36million signing of France under-20s striker Hugo Ekitike.

Last week, it had been widely reported that Newcastle had agreed a deal with French side Stade de Reims to sign the 19-year-old, who had a stunning 2021/22 campaign in which he scored 10 league goals, four more than Paris Saint-Germain’s Lionel Messi.

However, The Telegraph are now claiming that there is work still to be done on signing the teenage forward, with the report quoting that the transfer market has so far been “sluggish.” The window does not officially open until Friday, June 10, although a number of summer deals have already been announced.

The report comes just days after Reims owner Jean-Pierre Caillot had been discussing Ekitike’s future. Caillot said that there had been concrete interest from an English club, although he would not name which club it was, amid heavy links with Newcastle.

“Yes. Today, it is very concrete,” Caillot told France Bleu about interest in Ekitike last week. “And on the table there is one that suits us very well. An offer which, in my view, is sportingly interesting for the player and it is now up to him to make his choice, it is not for me to do so.

“From now on, it is his advisers who must move forward on this file. And if at the time of speaking this is not done, it is because his advisers have not yet wished to move forward with this club.

“We remain discrete but hey... it's an English club so we understood which club we're talking about.” Last week, it was reported by The Mail that Ekitike had agreed a deal from Newcastle to sign a five-year contract, snubbing interest from Borussia Dortmund to be their replacement for Erling Haaland, who left