Newcastle should give up on Hugo Ekitike

Newcastle United were 12th in the Premier League for goals (44) and scored one or less times in 26 of their 38 games, so Eddie Howe could do with bolstering the attack. Stade Reims striker Hugo Ekitike was on their radar, but Fabrizio Romano says there are ‘negative feelings’ after negotiations stalled.

The Magpies didn’t have one player who bagged double figures for goals in the league and only had one with more than five goals to their name – Callum Wilson was Newcastle’s top scorer (8) while Allan Saint-Maximin (5), Joelinton (4), Chris Wood (2) and Dwight Gayle (0) only managed 11 goals between them, so a new face is expected.

Ekitike looks a decent acquisition after scoring 10 goals with three assists from 23 Ligue 1 games as a teenager, but Newcastle haven’t made progress agreeing a fee with Reims. At one point, the Magpies had a deal all but done before the player’s agent requested additional fees and payments, so it’s time Dan Ashworth left this alone.   

Newcastle have refused to pay a tax on transfer targets just because they have lucrative funds for new recruits, so they won’t let Ekitike’s representative waste their time through greed.

In other news, Sven Botman ‘travelling’ to Newcastle to finalise deal