Newcastle now not interested in 'special' 21-year-old striker but are eyeing £15m alternative

Reports have been doing the rounds recently implying that Newcastle United would try again to land Hugo Ekitike after he shunned them last year.

Newcastle thought they had a deal all tied up for 'special' young forward Huge Ektike of Stade de Reims last summer when the striker pulled out last minute and went to Paris Saint-Germain on loan. A deal that contained an obligation to buy, much to PSG's regret.

The forward didn't get many opportunities to show what he could do for PSG last season and instead of knuckling down and proving himself, he decided to throw a strop instead which did nothing to help his case for first-team football.

Hugo Ekitike isn't an option for Newcastle

Now, after the deal was made permanent, PSG are already looking to offload the 21-year-old and Newcastle are potentially looking at a loan move in January according to reports.

However, north-east based reporter Joel Bland is now saying on X that Newcastle are looking elsewhere as they don't believe Ekitike would be first-team ready.

He then goes on to say that Newcastle are looking at Serhou Guirassy who has been exceptional in the Bundesliga for VfB Stuttgart this season, scoring 13 goals in seven games, breaking the record held by Robert Lewandowski.

Guirassy doesn't fit in with Newcastle's transfer policy

Guirassy has a release clause of around £15million and at 27 and in the form he's in, should be able to drop straight into our first-team in January.

The worry for us is that he's never played in the Premier League before and therefore it may take him a while to get up to speed, but at £15million and with 13 goals to his name already, he's surely worth the risk.

Joel Bland says he doesn't believe Guirassy fits Newcastle's transfer profile, and at 27 he may have a point, but this isn't a normal transfer window, we need bodies in and fast, we may have to break our own rules for this one.