Report suggests Newcastle United could end up better off this summer despite missing out on João Pedro
Newcastle United tried hard to get a deal done for Brazilian forward João Pedro earlier in the window but were ultimately gazumped by Chelsea.
Once the Blue entered the chat, there was only ever going to be one winner, with João Pedro having had his heart set on playing for a London club for a while.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for Newcastle fans at the time, and indeed, that pill only got better when Pedro scored two world-class goals in the Club World Cup semi-final and then another in the final, sealing the win for Chelsea.
Since missing out on Pedro, Newcastle have signed Anthony Elanga and are now reported to be working on a massive deal to bring in Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt.
What a feeling, when you're bursting through the ceiling
Although João Pedro has got off to a blinding start with Chelsea, The Athletic have now given Newcastle fans something to be very excited about.
In their transfer deal sheet segment, where they look at each club's wants and needs in the transfer market, they do state that no deal is in place yet for Ekitike, but then go on to compare him with Joao Pedro, and it's good news for Newcastle.
"Ekitike’s versatility — he is able to play across the frontline and has many stylistic similarities with Joao Pedro, though arguably has a higher ceiling potential-wise — is attractive."
There's not much between João Pedro and Hugo Ekitike as things stand
We'd probably say that João Pedro is just edging out Ekitike as things stand, purely because he has Premier League experience. Although Ekitike does have Champions League experience, which João Pedro doesn't yet.
The fact that The Athletic think Ekitike's ceiling is higher than João Pedro's makes sense given how much more the French forward looks set to cost Newcastle.
It looks as though there's a chance that Newcastle will come out of this window as winners if they finally get their man.
