Newcastle in advanced transfer talks to sign Hugo Ekitike in 'investment for the future'

Newcastle United are in advanced talks to sign Stade de Reims striker Hugo Ekitike.

Newcastle, of course, attempted to bring in the highly-rated Frenchman back in January, but Ekitike decided to stay put. The 19-year-old did not feel ready to make such a life-changing move in the mid-season window after only breaking into the Reims team a few months previously.

Rather than being deterred by that stance, Newcastle's owners completely understood it and character checks previously established that Ekitike is the sort of humble, technical, family-orientated footballer Eddie Howe loves working with. Therefore, it always seemed likely that Newcastle would revisit the situation in the summer as Howe prioritised bringing in more firepower and lowering the average age of his squad.

ChronicleLive understands Reims officials have also been aware of interest from Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan, but Newcastle are now leading the race for the most prolific teenager in Europe's top five leagues this season. Reims had ideally wanted a fee of around £25m plus more than £8m in add-ons, and those initial demands do not appear to have put Newcastle off as discussions continue on the structure of the deal.

Ekitike, after all, scored 11 goals in his breakthrough season at Reims despite only playing 26 games in all competitions. Ekitike is still a little raw and has to fill out - it is easy to forget the youngster was fourth-choice striker at Reims less than a year ago - but the Frenchman would be viewed as 'an investment for the future'.

This is a poacher who could support Callum Wilson and learn from the number nine before, one day, stepping up and leading the line himself. It is important to stress, after all, that club staff believe