Eddie Howe could return for player that rubbed Newcastle United fans the wrong way before club signed Alexander Isak

A popular saying is that 'everything happens for a reason' and while it may sometimes take a while for that reason to become apparent, Newcastle United didn't have to wait long to find out why fate interjected and sent Hugo Ekitike down a different path.

Newcastle looked to have a deal wrapped up for young France striker Hugo Ekitike from Reims, but when Paris Saint-Germain came along Ekitke couldn't resist and rather than going along with the permanent move to Newcastle, he headed to Paris on loan with an obligation to buy.

Unfortunately for Ekitke, by the time that obligation came around, PSG had decided that he didn't really fit their style and Ekitike was practically frozen out.

A few disciplinary issues also sealed his PSG fate and Newcastle fans, who were really upset at his sudden U-turn, felt like we'd dodged a bullet, especially given that Newcastle ultimately ended up signing Alexander Isak instead.

Hugo Ekitike has been in inspired form for Eintracht Frankfurt

Since then, however, Hugo Ekitke had a successful loan move to Eintracht Frankfurt where he impressed the Bundesliga side so much they made that deal permanent and the 22-year-old hasn't looked back.

Bagging 18 goals and six assists this season in 35 games for Frankfurt, Ekitke is starting to show why Newcastle were so keen to sign him almost three years ago.

But now, BILD's Christian Falk has said in his daily briefing that Newcastle are starting to take an interest in Hugo Ekitike again, but it's going to cost them big to land him this time.

Hugo Ekitike could end up costing more than we paid for Alexander Isak

The big caveat here seems to be that a move for Ekitke would be more likely if Newcastle sold Alexander Isak, which is very, very unlikely.

It's also expected that Frankfurt would demand €80 million (£67 million) for Ekitike's services, so the idea of having him and Isak at the club together seems more like a pipe dream at this point.

After how Ekitike conducted himself with Newcastle's transfer bid, would you be willing to forgive and move on if we were to bid for him again? He's certainly starting to show why we were so keen.