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Newcastle United has once again failed to sign French striker Hugo Ekitike. This is the third time in three years that a deal for him has not worked out.
This summer, they were in serious talks with his current club, Eintracht Frankfurt, but things didn’t go as planned. There were too many problems during the discussions, so Newcastle chose to back out.
They had already spent a big amount, £55 million, on another player, Anthony Elanga, and hoped to also get Ekitike. But when they offered €75 million to Frankfurt for him, the German club said no. Frankfurt wants at least €80 million, and Newcastle didn’t want to increase their offer.
Sports reporter Julien Laurens confirmed that Newcastle has dropped out of the race. Now, Liverpool and Manchester United are both interested in signing Ekitike, and while no deal has been confirmed yet, talks with those clubs are getting quite serious.
Meanwhile, another update says that Newcastle didn’t officially make a bid for Ekitike because they didn’t get a verbal agreement from the player first. The club also said they were disappointed that the story became public before anything was final.
Now that Ekitike is out of the picture, Newcastle might shift focus to a different striker, Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig. He was once close to joining Arsenal, but that didn’t work out. Newcastle manager Eddie Howe has liked Sesko for a long time and has told his team to keep a close eye on him.
Sesko is 21 years old and is still deciding what to do next. He might stay in Germany, but he’s also open to moving to England if the right offer comes in. Both Newcastle and Chelsea are expected to play in next season’s Champions League, which could attract him.
Earlier this month, Leipzig told Arsenal they would only sell Sesko for around €90 million. That’s a lot of money, but now that Newcastle can’t get Ekitike, they might be willing to pay more to get their new top choice.