Hugo Ekitiqe, 21, whose career has stalled since joining Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), is attracting interest from Premier League clubs. He was highly touted as a ‘big striker’ but has been reduced to a fringe player at PSG.
British media outlet ’90min’ reported on Sunday (June 17) that “Newcastle have renewed their pursuit of Ekitiqe and are exploring the possibility of a loan. Newcastle made a €40 million bid to the Stade de Reims side in the summer of 2022 for Ekitiqe, but failed to land him.”
PSG, under new coach Luis Enrique (53, Spain), has been harsh on non-performing players since before the season, forcing them to train separately from the first team. Most of the players classified as non-performers at the time, including Marco Verratti (31), Abdou Diallo (27-Al-Arabi), Julian Draxler (30), and Giorginio Binaldum (33-Al Etihad Park), changed jerseys in the summer transfer window.
Ekitiqe, who joined them on the release list, made a different decision. He was linked with a move to Frankfurt in the final days of the transfer window in exchange for Randall Kolo Moani (24), but the club could not resolve their wage issues and he stayed on. With Kolo Moani’s transfer duly completed before the transfer window closed, PSG had no room for Ekitiqe in their attacking ranks with the arrival of Gonzalo Higuain (22), Ousmane Dembele (26) and Marco Asensio (27).
Premier League clubs are interested in Ekiti, who hasn’t touched the turf since an eight-minute appearance in the season opener. Last summer, Ekitiqe was linked with a number of clubs, including Newcastle, Crystal Palace, and West Ham, but no agreement was reached as he was determined to stay at PSG. Now, two months later, Ekitiqe is preparing to leave the club against his wishes and out of Enrique’s sight. 아톰카지노 주소
“Ekitiqe is ready to move on and there is interest in him from the Premier League,” says 90min. Newcastle, who have lost Callum Wilson, 31, to injury, are among those who want him. West Ham are keeping an eye on him, as are Crystal Palace, who failed to convince him to stay this summer.”
Outside of the Premier League, Serie A and Bundesliga clubs have also added Ekitiqe to their lists. However, the player has been aware of the Premier League’s interest for a long time and would prefer to move to the Premier League. The €92,000-a-week wages that Ekitiqe earns are likely to be too much for any team to bear, so he is likely to opt for a loan move rather than an outright transfer.
Ekitiqe showed plenty of potential as a teenager, scoring 10 goals in 24 Ligue 1 games for Stade de Reims in 2021-22. He moved to PSG on loan in the summer of 2022 and became a fully-fledged PSG player last summer for a fee of €28.5 million. However, a deep slump has seen him fall out of contention for a starting spot and his future is unclear.