Eintracht Frankfurt are braced for a huge offer from Newcastle United as talks are cranked up for star
Hugo Ekitike is a France U21 international
Newcastle United are not planning to draft in Hugo Ekitike as a replacement for Alexander Isak, sources close to the Magpies' sensational transfer quest have confirmed.
As reported last night, Newcastle staged secret talks in Germany at the end of last week with those discussions leaked to the media in Frankfurt.
This morning, the suggestion in Germany was that Eintracht Frankfurt are now braced for a 'first offer' from Newcastle for the Frenchman.
Chronicle Live understands that those conversations remain active and the big question for Newcastle appears to be whether there is any wiggle room on the asking price of £86m.
With Frankfurt willing sellers, there is hope that a fee closer to £70m with incentives could yet the thrashed out. The move from Newcastle has alerted Liverpool on two counts.
Firstly, Arne Slot remains keen on Isak. Liverpool identified him as one of their top targets for the summer earlier in the window.
But Chronicle Livehas been told Isak is still not for sale and the dramatic plan from Newcastle would be to pair Ekitike and the Sweden star together, alongside new boy Anthony Elanga in what would be a dream attack for Eddie Howe.
Secondly, Ekitike was looked at as a back-up option for the Reds if they could not get Isak, something that may yet spark a response from Anfield.
There were suggestions that there was a visit to Tyneside from super agent Ali Barat to complete the deal yesterday with ESPN claiming that was the case. But that is yet to be stood up at the Newcastle end.
The word from United so far is simply that they have "increased" their interest in the former Paris St-Germain star. Personal terms would have to be agreed on a deal that has already collapsed twice between Newcastle and the 23-year-old.
What is also likely is that any raid for Ekitike would see further departures at Newcastle. Chronicle Live reported last night that head coach Eddie Howe might be pushed into a sale for one or two senior stars.
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