Eddie Howe’s team is aspiring to secure another Champions League qualification in the 2023/24 season, a goal that seems challenging for West Ham. The Magpies, recognizing this, are shifting their focus to alternative targets in the transfer market.
One player they had been pursuing for a while was the Paris Saint-Germain outcast, Hugo Ekitike. However, recent reports from TeamTalk suggest that club executives have strongly opposed his potential move to St. James’ Park, ruling him out as an option. Ekitike, who has seen a mere nine minutes of action in the current season, appears to acknowledge that his time in Paris is coming to an end.
Notably, West Ham has also expressed long-standing interest in the player. Foot Mercato reported in September that the East London club had unsuccessfully attempted a last-minute bid for Ekitike during the summer transfer window. The failure, it seems, was due to insufficient time for negotiation rather than the player rejecting the offer. Now that Newcastle is no longer in contention, West Ham aims to advance their pursuit before the transfer window opens on January 1, hoping to secure Ekitike early in the new year.
