A major update on Newcastle United’s bid to sign Hugo Ekitike has arrived on Tuesday lunch time.
Last night, ESPN claimed that Newcastle were ‘on the verge’ of finalising a deal worth €80m (£69.5m) for the Frenchman, with super agent Ali Barat working on the final details to push through a transfer.
However, in an update from Sky Germany this afternoon, it seems the terms of this €80m package aren’t quite right for Eintracht Frankfurt.
In an exclusive posted on X, Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg reports that our €80m ‘written offer’ has been rejected by the Bundesliga side, ‘mainly due to the payment terms.’
The full details are not clear, but this strongly suggests that the structure of payments may not be appealing to Frankfurt, who may be demanding a greater up front sum, for example.
Plettenberg adds that their sporting director, Markus Krösche, ‘wants more’ for the 23-year-old, also stating ‘there are clubs who have already signalled they would be willing to pay more.’
That last line is a suspicious one. If rival clubs are ‘willing to pay more’, why aren’t they? This could be a message Frankfurt are pushing to the German media and to extract more out of Newcastle and potential scare tactic, to make us believe we’re at risk of missing out.
Or perhaps it is true and other interested parties will soon enter the race and spark a bidding war?
Who knows, but speed could now be key for Newcastle, who would be wise to negotiate a structure of payments that works for all parties so we don’t miss out on our man for the third time in three years.
🚨⚫️⚪️ EXCL | Eintracht Frankfurt are understood to have rejected a written offer from Newcastle this morning worth €80 million, mainly due to the payment terms. #NUFC
… and Markus Krösche wants more. There are clubs who have already signalled they would be willing to pay… pic.twitter.com/Ja4TvSB2Iy
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) July 15, 2025
Frankfurt are rather pushing their luck here I feel, and as you rightly say, if clubs are willing to pay more why haven’t the?
Don’t get me wrong, he’s top class and I’d love him at the club, but teams with bigger budgets than us walked away from Sesko at £78m. If Sesko is £78m why is Ekitike more? And if clubs wouldn’t pay for Sesko they’re clearly not lining up to pay more for Ekitike!
I’d happily take either, personally, but I suppose Ekitike offers greater versatility so perhaps that justifies his value. Let’s just get him signed already!
Ian(Quote)
I wouldn’t put too much trust into the valuations other clubs are coming to, no-one else bid for Isak or Bruno who are both massive steals for us.
I think Sesko is a better striker mind, and we don’t know the full details of why other clubs haven’t taken him – could be more personal terms on things like guaranteed starts or just the fact it’s a bigger gamble
tomatao(Quote)
Newcastle can’t afford to hang around quibbling .. the other factor is his agent has done a lot of business with Chelsea including caicedo and Jackson and Hugo is on their list .. if they don’t sort it this week they should move on to the next target and not get used as a dummy to get more money for Frankfurt
Mike(Quote)
I disagree with the above comment; I think that NUFC cannot afford to NOT quibble about the fee, due to PSR, we need to be careful not to throw money around like in previous transfer windows. If he exceeds our valuation , move on.
Rich(Quote)