Journalist Dean Jones has claimed that Newcastle United might opt to sign a Hugo Ekitike alternative before the transfer window ends.
Newcastle United were close to signing Ekitike earlier in the summer, but due to demands from the player’s agent, the deal failed to materialise, and the young French striker has since agreed a deal to sign with Paris Saint-Germain.
In the meantime, the Magpies have been linked with several other strikers such as Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Ivan Toney, but the former has since picked up an injury that has put a halt in proceedings.
With Newcastle yet to bring in an attacker this summer, Jones spoke to GiveMeSport and claimed that it might not be an obvious name who they bring in – and in essence, an Ekitike-type signing.
He said: “It’s just what profile of striker they decide to get in. They were going to get Calvert-Lewin, but obviously, he got injured, so that’s really scuppered their ideas of going for him.
“I’m told we’ve got to the stage where it might not be an obvious name that they go for. It might be like an Ekitike alternative here, who was seen as a project striker, not someone that might make an immediate impact.”
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TIF Thoughts on Jones’ comments…
Callum Wilson was chosen as the man to lead the line for the Magpies in their opening game of the season on Saturday when they beat newly promoted Nottingham Forest 2-0, with the English forward bagging their second goal.
However, Eddie Howe might still be keen to bring in another striker this summer, as Wilson missed large chunks of last season to injury, meaning he could only feature 18 times in the Premier League. So it would be a major issue for the manager if he was to get injured and they don’t bring another player through the door.
Chris Wood was brought into the club in January as a short-term replacement for Wilson, but he failed to hit the ground running after scoring just twice in 17 league games last season for Newcastle, so another striker perhaps with the potential to score more goals could provide healthy competition for Wilson.
But given Wilson’s fine form, perhaps the type of signing Jones hints at would work well, as a young understudy to Wilson could learn plenty from him and, in time, become the club’s first-choice striker once age and injuries catch up to the Toon forward. Therefore, this sounds like quite an exciting claim.