Towards the very end of the transfer window, Crystal Palace were willing to take a small gamble on Hugo Ekitike, as they offered Paris Saint-Germain a loan with an option to buy worth a maximum of €35m.
This was rejected by the Ligue 1 side, as they were still in talks with Eintracht Frankfurt about buying Randal Kolo Muani, and were hoping to use the 21-year-old to lower the price tag.
That never happened, as the player kept rejecting the chance to move to the Bundesliga side, with some claims suggesting he much preferred a move to Crystal Palace, which didn’t go down well, and L’Equipe believe he will now pay for that behaviour.
It was announced that Ekitike, alongside Marco Verratti, would not be a part of the French club’s Champions League squad, but it could get even worse for the youngster.
Recalling that Paris Saint-Germain turned down the loan offer from Crystal Palace, L’Equipe believe that this decision to leave him out of the European competition is a ‘punishment’ for his ‘refusal to leave the club’ this summer in the dying hours of the transfer window.
By doing so, he nearly made the Kolo Muani deal collapse, and those in charge of the Ligue 1 side ‘resent’ Ekitike for that.
Then again, L’Equipe do point out that no one forced them to loan then purchase the youngster and give him a five-year contract, and their decision to include him in a deal without talking to him about it ‘can also explain his desire to stand up’ to the board.
He’s now paying the price by not playing in the Champions League, but there’s also a strong chance he will be stopped from playing in the league, as shown by his lack of inclusion in the squad that beat Lyon 4-1 over the weekend.
