Cast your minds back to the summer when it was looking absolutely nailed-on that Newcastle would be signing French youngster Hugo Ekitike from Reims only for the lad to blow us out at the last minute to move to Paris Saint-Germain.
It was said at the time that Ekitike wanted assurances that he’d be a first-team player at Newcastle and not just a bench warmer, which was fair and a wish that would have been granted. Instead he opted to stay in France (I respect his decision to stay closer to home and to play for one of the biggest clubs in the world), but he signed for a club that has Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar – did he think he was going to get the first-team action he craved there?
Since his move, Ekitike has gone on to make just two starts for PSG along with seven substitute appearances. He has managed to find the net in one of those appearances, but if you think how much better his stats would be had he moved to Tyneside, you have to wonder if he made the right call.
Well, it turns out that he still believes he did according to The Northern Echo. He was recently asked if he had any regrets over his decision, Ekitike told Canal+: “No, I know why I came here. Of course, when you arrive in a club like this, there’s a lot of expectations. People expect performances, and if they don’t come, people will obviously ask questions.
“I play in a role where I’m always going to be questioned, because I came with a big transfer fee. I need to assume that, and that’s what I’m doing. It’s not a problem. If I play badly, I’ll be the first to admit it, and if I play well, I’ll be there too, and I will continue to be good.”
I don’t know, sounds like a man in denial to me. But it worked out for us anyway, we got Alexander Isak – I mean, yes, he’s barely kicked a ball since he signed, but in just three appearances he has two goals (and one perfectly good one chalked off – never forget) and that’s a better return than what PSG have got out of Ekitike. So I think we win.