Newcastle in talks over ambitious Raphinha move and ditch “ridiculous” Hugo Ekitike deal – Reports

Sven Botman may be arriving on Tyneside any minute now, but it seems the club are also working on deals for a striker and a right-winger.

Starting with Craig Hope’s latest update, The Mail’s man in the North-East reports that a move for Hugo Ekitike is now “all but dead.”

He claims that demands coming from the player’s agent – Karl Buchmann – were described as “ridiculous” by a source close to the deal, stating that we are now moving on to other targets as PSG emerge as a more likely destination for the 20-year-old talent.

Elsewhere, the Northern Echo have reveal that we’ve held initial talks with Leeds over a potential move for Raphinha.

The report states that we are waiting to see how things develop before lodging a formal bid for the Brazilian, however chief writer Scott Wilson admits that Leeds’ £60m asking price will have to come down if we’re to stand any chance of landing the 25-year-old.

This comes after the club made ‘renewed contact’ with Bayer Leverkusen over Moussa Diaby – a player the Bundesliga side appear determined to keep after slapping a €50m asking price on the player’s head.