Journalist Dean Jones has claimed that Newcastle United’s signing of Hugo Ekitike is imminent – and the fans will have to ‘trust the process’.
According to recent reports, Newcastle have held talks with Reims over a deal for sought-after forward Ekitike, however, a slight hamstring injury whilst on international duty has delayed the transfer from being completed.
Ekitike missed a large chunk of last season due to an injury that he picked up in February, but he still ended the campaign with impressive stats, netting 10 times in 24 Ligue 1 appearances, with just 14 of those appearances coming from the start, meaning that he averaged a goal every 127 minutes.
Despite the delays in the deal, Jones claimed to GiveMeSport that the completion of the transfer was ‘imminent’ and he should be a Newcastle player soon.
He said: “The Ekitike deal is still on – Newcastle fans are just going to have to trust the process here! I’m told it is imminent, but who knows what that means at this point in terms of a timeframe.”
Do you think Ekitike will be first choice striker at Newcastle?YesNo |
TIF Thoughts on Dean Jones’ comments…
Newcastle had a strong end to the last Premier League season after some impressive January signings made the difference. Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn, Bruno Guimaraes and Matt Targett ended up being the club’s top performers with the highest average match ratings (via SofaScore).
However, Callum Wilson ended up being the club’s top scorer in the league with eight goals, despite featuring just three times in 2022. So Eddie Howe will most likely be keen to bring in a new striker, and Ekitike could be a good option due to his goalscoring record last term.
Ekitike is just 19 years old, so Howe might look to bring him to Newcastle and develop him into a top player, so he can be part of what is expected to be a successful future at St James’ Park.