Newcastle is promoting the recruitment of Frankfurt's Hugo Ekitike striker, and they want him to pair with Alexander Isak in attack, not to replace him – what Liverpool expect.
Ekitike scored 22 goals and had 12 assists after 48 matches for Frankfurt last season, contributing greatly to help this team win tickets to the Champions League. His impressive performance made many big clubs like Liverpool, Chelsea and MU, but Newcastle was more determined.
“Choi Chu” is lacking striker after Callum Wilson decided to leave in the form of freedom instead of signing a new contract. They have completed the £ 55 million deal to recruit Anthony Elanga winger from Nottingham, and now want to have more Ekitike to increase the depth and strength of the attack.
According to Sky Sports, Newcastle had negotiations with Frankfurt in Germany last week and continued to promote the deal when the team was on a pre -season trip at Austria. Ekitike, 23, has a contract to release a contract worth 100 million euros (equivalent to 86 million pounds), and Frankfurt is in the upper position in negotiations, because the French striker still contract until June 2029.
This fee is higher than the 63 million pound transfer record that Newcastle has spent to recruit Isak from Sociedad in August 2022. Newcastle is trying to negotiate to lower the price to about 75 million euros (65 million pounds), but this potential fee raises many questions about the club's financial situation.
According to The Athletic, the purchase of Ekitike without selling Isak – who is being monitored by Liverpool – will make Newcastle trouble with PSR regulations. However, coach Eddie Howe really wants both strikers and is willing to change the tactical diagram so they can kick together.
Isak scored 23 goals in the Premier League last season before being the only striker in the squad. Meanwhile, the presence of Elanga increases the competitiveness of the wing position – where there is Harvey Barnes, Anthony Gordon and Jacob Murphy.
Newcastle tried to recruit Ekitike in January 2022, but the £ 20 million deal was broken in the last minute. Since then, they have been closely monitoring the development and impression of the player's performance in Frankfurt's shirt – the team recruited Ekitike for 17.5 million euros last summer.
Frankfurt is also famous as a good player team in recent years, has let Omar Marmous to Man City for 75 million euros in January and sells Randal Kolo Muati to PSG for 95 million euros in 2023.
Frankfurt's sports director Markus Krosche, recently told Sport1: “He is one of the most interesting strikers in Europe today. The decision is in Hugo. I am very happy to have him in the team, but if he chose another path, as we still say: If one player grows faster than the club, we will let them leave.”