What a time this is for Hugo Ekitike to be making his first visit to St James’ after Liverpool won the race, ahead of Newcastle, to sign the French forward last month.
Ekitike is a player Howe knows well and, without blinking, he can reel off a concise scouting report: really good movement, intelligent, good in the air, scores goals off both feet. That was the lowdown. That was why Newcastle wanted him.
“There’s no doubt I really like Hugo and have done for a number of years,” Howe said. “He was someone we tracked for a long time.”
That is an understatement.
In fact, Newcastle attempted to sign Ekitike on three separate occasions over a three-and-a-half-year period.
Newcastle made their first move in January, 2022 when Ekitike was not exactly a household name.
But the 23-year-old always had immense potential.
Few know that better than former Brighton manager Oscar Garcia, who worked with Ekitike at Reims at the time.
“You do not find many strikers like him at that age,” Garcia recently told Sport. “He is tall, fast, mobile, very good one against one, holds the ball and scores goals. He can fit with teams that play more on the counter-attack, but also with teams with more possession because he has the skill for both styles.
“Hugo knows which aspects he can improve on, but he also needs help to develop his potential to reach the level that all the people who know him believe he can reach.”
Newcastle were not alone among Premier League clubs in recognising those qualities, however.
Liverpool had also been tracking Ekitike for some time after the striker rediscovered his spark at Eintracht Frankfurt following a frustrating spell at Paris St-Germain.
Newcastle may have made the opening offer to Eintracht last month, but Ekitike had his sights set on a £69m move to Liverpool after previously speaking to Slot.
It proved a significant moment in the transfer window. In more ways than one.
