I was forced to watch Newcastle United on TV after £25m transfer snub - it didn't work out for me until now
Hugo Ekitike twice turned down the opportunity to join Newcastle United back in 2022, opting for a move to Paris Saint-Germain instead.
Newcastle submitted two bids for Ekitike during the winter and summer transfer windows but were snubbed by the forward on both occasions. Ekitike’s former club Stade de Reims reportedly accepted a £25million bid from Newcastle only for the player to opt against a move and join PSG instead.
But Ekitike’s move to the French giants did not work out as planned. The young forward was largely limited to substitute appearances in his first season before he was frozen out of the squad entirely for the 2023-24 campaign.
Ekitike was left out of PSG’s Champions League squad that season and was forced to watch the 4-1 defeat against Newcastle at St James’ Park on television. After being left out, Ekitike ended up joining Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt in the January, spending just 18 months in the French capital.
‘PSG didn’t help me’ - Ekitike
Reflecting on the spell, the 22-year-old has hit out at PSG for how they managed him.
"I was arriving in [Lionel] Messi and Neymar's last [contract] year," he told L'Equipe. "Go and get them out...you can't. They have to play, they're the best players in the world.
"You're behind, you're trying to save time. Two minutes, 15 minutes, two matches on the bench then 60 minutes...there's no lying in football. Only continuity makes you a player who can count.
"I'm never going to say that I did everything well. I could have done better - that's the truth - but they [PSG] didn't help me do better. They didn't give me confidence. Even during training, even through discussions...they never really took the time to talk to me to be able to help me. I found myself in a situation where I was forced to get by.
"Even in a match, I had to think about how I moved so as not to hinder any player so that the team could function. All that, mixed with a confidence that wasn't at its maximum, with a different football...that's a lot of information that meant it didn't work, but I learned a lot."
Working with Lionel Messi, Neymar & Kylian Mbappe
The 22-year-old has reignited his career in Germany with 22 goals in 51 appearances for Frankfurt. Though he still looks back on his time in Paris with some fondness.
“It's only now, after spending a lot of time at home reflecting on what happened, that I've realised that I've been lucky enough to be in a place where no one else has been,” he told TNT Sports.
"I'm always on a quest to learn. I have a thirst for learning. I realised that at the end of the day, I'd maybe spent a year, a year-and-a-half watching the best players in the world go through their paces in training and even in matches. Sometimes up close, sometimes a little further away."
A bullet dodged for Newcastle United?
Ekitike’s floundering spell at PSG made it seem as though Newcastle had dodged a bullet by being rejected by the forward. Especially as later in the window, they ended up breaking their club transfer record to sign Alexander Isak for £63million.
But Ekitike’s resurgence in Germany shows what Newcastle saw in the player to convince them to make two transfer bids for him three years ago. Frankfurt currently sit fourth in the Bundesliga table and are looking to progress to the Europa League quarter-final.