£25m player unconvinced by Newcastle and PIF despite deadline day scramble

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Newcastle might have had a nice and busy January transfer window, but that doesn’t mean they ended up with all the transfer targets on Eddie Howe and PIF’s list.

The Mags managed to do big deals for players like Bruno Guimaraes and Chris Wood, but they did miss out on a few, if reports in the media are to be believed. One of the players the club is said to have failed to land is young French striker, Hugo Ekitike.

The Stade Reims youngster emerged as £25m target for Newcastle in January, while clubs like Arsenal were also said to have cast admiring glances the way of the teenager. However, Ekitike remained in France. And in a revealing comment from his agent, it seems Newcastle might have some re-evaluating to do.

“We were not convinced about the sports project (at Newcastle) and we saw no short or medium-term plan with their approach. Hugo has achieved great things in just six months but as he is attached to the club, we agreed with the leaders to end the season with Reims,” his agent Karl Buchmann said. (quotes via the Sun)

Certainly, it seems Buchmann’s comments are a bit of a sig at how PIF are doing things. However, it could just be some feedback the club can take onboard ahead of the summer.

TBR’s View: PIF Still Deserve Credit

This was the first window of what will probably be a number of expensive ones for Newcastle’s new owners. However, they do deserve some credit, despite some shortcomings.

PIF did land some good players for Eddie Howe. And while they didn’t quite some of the star names that were floated about at one point, they still got Eddie Howe a better squad.

The pressure is now on Howe to deliver. Ekitike, meanwhile, will be hoping for a big summer offer from somewhere.