Newcastle United signed Alexander Isak from Real Sociedad for a club-record fee of €70m in the summer.
Prior to the arrival of the Swedish striker, the Tyneside club were keen on securing Hugo Ekitike’s services from Stade de Reims, but the Frenchman snubbed a chance to arrive at St James’ Park in order to seal a switch to Paris Saint-Germain.
After joining the Ligue 1 winners, the 20-year-old admitted he would have joined Newcastle if not for PSG’s call.
However, his decision to sign for the Paris club has not paid off so far as he has been restricted to 66 minutes of action from five league matches.
Le10 Sport suggest Eddie Howe’s side ‘could have been the better option’ for the France U20 international, after he posted a ‘thought-provoking’ message on Instagram.
Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé are ahead of Ekitike to lead the club’s attacking division, and while the latter has decided to deal the current situation at Parc des Princes with patience, he still hopes to be able to enjoy more game time quickly.
This could have been avoided had he decide to pick Newcastle over PSG, as Ekitike was the priority target for the Magpies in the last window, but a move didn’t take shape.
Le10 state: ‘A mistake for the PSG player? If Ekitike had signed with the Magpies, the former Stade de Reims striker could have had a lot more playing time than he has at PSG.’
