Some big breaking news has emerged from Sky Sports in the last few moments, revealing that Newcastle United have had an offer ACCEPTED for Stade Reims star Hugo Ekitike.
The fee is believed to be ‘between £20m and £25m’ and could see us sign one of France’s most exciting young talents, with the 19-year-old currently the highest scoring teenager across Europe’s top five leagues after eight goals in 18 games this season.
This comes after a potential move for Eddie Nketiah appears to have broken down, as The Telegraph report that he’s set to stay at Arsenal.
Elsewhere, Keith Downie reports that we’ve struck an agreement to bring in Aston Villa’s Matt Targett on loan, claiming the left-back is due on Tyneside for a medical today.
Here’s what he’s had to say on both deals in the last few moments:
Here’s a reminder of what Reims president Jean-Pierre Caillot had to say when speaking to Le Quotidien Du Sport 10 days ago:
“It is true that many now realize the qualities of the player.
“What he does does not surprise us.
“Newcastle positioned themselves, we discussed, they made a proposal which does not suit us.
“As we don’t necessarily want to see him leave, we have set the bar quite high.
“They offered us €35million in total but with many bonuses, some of which were almost impossible to achieve. Like winning the Champions League!”
“We want €30million “fixed” + €10million in ‘realistic’ bonuses.”
Maybe we have now agreed to pay €30m (£25m) plus add-ons – it certainly looks that way!
As for Targett, it seems he will beef up our defensive options alongside Dan Burn, who is also expected to sign today.
What a start to deadline day!
H.E looks like he needs to eat a sandwich. He looks very very light weight, need to get him into the gym ASAP.
NUFC 11(Quote)
I believe these signings when I see it’s confirmed all hearsay so far
Maz(Quote)