Newcastle transfer news: Failed January window objective at St. James' Park revealed

Newcastle United wanted to bring in a young forward to complement the addition of Chris Wood from Burnley, says Sky Sports reporter Keith Downie.

The 30-year-old arrived at St James' Park after a £25m release clause in his contract was triggered, but manager Eddie Howe quite clearly wanted another attacking addition on top of him.

In terms of young strikers, the one Newcastle seemed to have really wanted was Reims' Hugo Ekitike.

As per Sky Sports, the Tyneside club had agreed a £33m deal with the French side to sign the teenager only for a move to break down at the very end.

The 19-year-old has really impressed in Ligue 1 this season, scoring eight goals in 18 appearances for Reims.

Arsenal's Eddie Nketiah is another name Newcastle are said to have looked at, but in the end, nothing happened. The English youngster will now be expected to provide cover for Alexandre Lacazette following Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's move to Barcelona.

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Downie has told GIVEMESPORT that Newcastle definitely wanted to bring in an understudy for Wood and that was their plan.

Speaking to GMS, the Sky Sports journalist said: "The information I was given was that they wanted to bring in a young forward to try and learn from Chris Wood." 

A lot will depend on their Premier League status. Even if they do manage to stay in the English top flight, though, signing Ekitike or Nketiah does not look like it is going to be easy, as there is a lot of competition for the two young forwards.

Regarding the former, Sky Sports claims Borussia Dortmund and Reims' Ligue 1 rivals Paris Saint-Germain have an interest in him.

As for the latter, Crystal Palace, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia