Hugo Ekitike boost as £17m deal agreed after Newcastle United snub & accepted transfer bid

Hugo Ekitike scored his first competitive goal in over 15 months as he helped Eintracht Frankfurt beat Augsburg on Friday night.

The 21-year-old is currently on loan from Paris Saint-Germain in a deal that is set to become permanent in the summer. Frankfurt have an option to buy Ekitike for £14million this summer having already paid PSG £3million to take the forward on a half-season loan.

According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Ekitike has agreed terms with Frankfurt ahead of a permanent deal totalling around £17million. The move will come just two years after Ekitike snubbed a £26million move to Newcastle in favour of joining PSG from Stade de Reims.

The Magpies had a bid accepted by Reims in June 2022 only for the deal to collapse due to agent demands.

Ekitike’s move to PSG failed to work out as he was deemed surplus to requirements after just one season. He was left out of PSG’s Champions League squad as they unsuccessfully tried to offload him in the summer amid interest from Frankfurt, West Ham United, Nottingham Forest and Everton.

Once again, Ekitike turned down the transfer opportunity and was subsequently left out of PSG’s squad entirely before finally agreeing to join Frankfurt on loan in January.

After failing to score in his first 11 matches, the young forward finally found the net with a fine solo effort into the bottom left corner to give Frankfurt the lead. It ended a run of 28 competitive matches without a goal, stretching back to January 2023.