PSG eye French wonderkid Ekitike
Paris Saint-Germain are looking to add one more young striker to their squad. The Ligue 1 champions, which are close to completing the signing of the 23-year-old Gianluca Scamacca by the end of this week, have made their first offer to buy the wonderkid Hugo Ekitike from Stade Reims.
As reported by the French website Foot Mercato, the club from the capital have proposed an initial oral offer of €27 million to sign Reims’ best player from the 2021/2022 season. It’s also being reported that Ekitike is thought of highly by the club’s boarding staff and his name has been monitored by Luis Campos, PSG’s new sporting director, since the end of last season.
“As we revealed in May, Luis Campos had targeted his profile to strengthen the Parisian attack and this even before his official induction as Nasser Al-Khelaifi’s advisor,” wrote Santi Aouna, Foot Mercato’s reporter.
Even though Ekitike’s desire is to join the French club, it seems that PSG have a tough opponent in their bid to complete the 20-year-old striker’s transfer, as Newcastle United have offered a huge amount of money to acquire the player.
According to the French newspaper L’Equipe, in Jan., the Magpies offered €35 million plus € 5 million of bonus to buy the French wonderkid, a bid that was accepted by Reims but blocked by Ekitike.
Now, the tabloid reports that the English club have increased their offer and sent a proposal of €36 million plus €10 million of bonus, which is also considered good by Reims.
As stated in Foot Mercato’s article, Jean-Pierre Caillot, Stade Reims’s president, is open to negotiate his striker with Paris Saint-Germain. However, the club manager will only sell his player if an offer close to Newcastle’s proposal arrives on his table.
Ekitike had an excellent 2021/2022 season and he was the U20 player with the highest number of goals scored in the top 5 European leagues. In 26 matches for Stade Reims, the French forward scored 11 goals and provided four assists.
The wonderkid is another striker targeted by PSG during this transfer window, as the French champions are close to finishing Scamacca’s transfer this week and have also purportedly made a bid to buy Robert Lewandowski.
-Matheus Teles