Crystal Palace and West Ham United saw late bids for Paris Saint Germain striker Hugo Ekitike fail as the French side did not want to sanction a loan deal.
That’s according to journalist Fabrice Hawkins, who has provided clarity on the striker’s situation on deadline day after he pushed for a move but never got it.
The striker had been linked with a move away from PSG all summer after they cut him out of the first team squad and made it clear that they wanted him to move on.
He’s been named as an option for various clubs around Europe, particularly in the Premier League, where Crystal Palace and West Ham were seemingly among his suitors.
They appeared to have missed out when PSG agreed a deal with Eintracht Frankfurt for Randal Kolo Muani that most expected would see Ekitike move to Germany.
However, while Muani landed in Paris, Ekitike refused to join the Bundesliga club as he wanted to move elsewhere.
One of his options were Crystal Palace, who made their move on deadline day of the transfer window and struck an agreement with the player, reportedly behind PSG’s back.
They had pushed ahead of West Ham in the last few days, who had been in the market also and were believed to be working hard on a deal to sign Ekitike as a replacement for the departed Gianluca Scamacca.
Neither side ended up signing him, though, and Hawkins says that is because PSG refused to let him on loan.
“Ekitike was for a long time the equation posed by Frankfurt so that Kolo Muani could leave,” he told RMC’s l’After Foot, relayed by Le 10 Sport.
“There absolutely had to be an arrival and they eyed Ekitike for a long time except that they never managed to find a contractual agreement with Ekitike. So, the transfer did not happen.
“Faced with this, he had other possibilities, notably in England with West Ham and Crystal Palace on loan. Problem, PSG did not accept the offers made by the English which were mainly loans.
“Ekitike is still there, we can’t imagine him leaving for championships like Qatar where the transfer window is still open or Saudi Arabia.”
