Why Newcastle want Hugo Ekitike and how he would fit in alongside Alexander Isak

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Hugo Eikitike is not just a goalscorer. He is a forward of great breadth and alluring technique and it’s that combination, in concert with a rare craft, that makes him worth what Newcastle United are seemingly willing to pay to sign him from Eintracht Frankfurt.

Ekitike is also not the finished article. As varied as his attributes are, they all require refinement to an extent.

He is not the best finisher, yet. He does not always make the very best decisions, yet. There are times, too, when he can seem almost too skilful and be too ambitious with the ball at his feet.

The data captures all of this. It describes an unfinished player, still learning, and that is both a fair characterisation and something to bear in mind. But since arriving in Germany in January 2024, initially on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, he has been evolving at a steady pace, introducing new elements to his game and becoming more and more dangerous.

Ekitike battles with Tottenham Hotspur’s Cristian Romero in last season’s UEFA Europa League quarter-final (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

If Newcastle sign him, what would they be getting?

A 6ft 3in forward who is one of the quickest players in the Bundesliga. Ekitike is extremely dangerous on the counter-attack — a goal against Tottenham in last season’s Europa League demonstrated that threat — and difficult to contain in both open space and in crowded penalty boxes. For a slender forward, he is surprisingly effective in the air.

During his time in Frankfurt, he has also worked in a 4-2-3-1 and a 3-4-3, operating at different times as a wide forward and, latterly, as a No 9.

So, there’s much to like and the highlights speak for themselves.

Watch his goal against Ajax last season at the Waldstadion: a slaloming run, then a comprehensive side-foot high into the top corner. Or go back to the beginning of last season and the game against Hoffenheim at home. Ekitike raced beyond the defensive line with the muscularity to hold off the recovering defenders, but then the grace to dance around goalkeeper Oliver Baumann to open the scoring.

Hugo Ekitiké humilhando a defesa do Ajax! 🇫🇷🔥#SGE pic.twitter.com/crX39Qfr3Y

— Eintracht Frankfurt (@Eintracht_por) June 20, 2025

One of the first goals he scored for Frankfurt was against Bayern Munich at Allianz Arena in April 2024 and that remains as pertinent as any.

Receiving a pass just outside the box, he evaded Konrad Laimer and Thomas Muller, created a shooting chance that nobody knew was there, and carved a shot into Manuel Neuer’s far corner.

There are many more moments like that. There are many, too, which have been forgotten. Little dashes of skill. Stepovers, roulettes, artful little feints. Ekitike can play, that much is clear.

Ekitike celebrates scoring against 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 in April 13 (Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

But can he play with Aleksander Isak?

If Newcastle are successful in their pursuit, that would be the plan — and there’s every reason to believe that it could be a successful combination.

After all, the first half of Ekitike’s 2024-25 season was notable for his combination with Omar Marmoush before the Egyptian was sold to Manchester City. He and Marmoush have similar traits and would often rotate between each other’s roles, but always with enough understanding and instinct to bring the best from one another.

The sequence below actually comes from a game against Bayer Leverkusen during the 2023-24 season. It shows Ekitike picking up possession tight to the near touchline, before driving infield, away from the defenders, and then playing Marmoush in on goal with a perfect slide-rule pass.

Marmoush missed, hammering the ball high and wide, but it’s both an example of their working together, as a forward pair, and of Ekitike’s capacity to change a game in an instant.

The pairing became HugoMar. Yes, the nickname might have been better — Germans do love a compound — but the combinations between the two were slick and clever, and frequently a nightmare for defences. Isak is not the same player as Marmoush. He’s more of an orthodox No 9.

But he’s smart, quick and instinctive, and equipped with the kind of subtlety that Ekitike seems to enjoy working with.

And there is a facilitating aspect to Ekitike’s game. Last season, according to data from FBref.com, he was in the 95th percentile for key passes (1.60/90 minutes), the 94th percentile for shot-creating actions (3.50/90 minutes), and the 93rd among all forwards for Expected Assists (0.19/90 minutes).

That performance can be attributed partly to how much defensive attention Ekitike attracts and how easily he can go beyond defenders and into space. He had a high shot volume last year, too (3.74/90 minutes) and that was a contributing factor. But as the sequence below shows, he’s able to see and read the game quickly, and make use of what his team-mates are doing.

During the second game of last season, in that previously mentioned match against Hoffenheim, he received a pass across the box from Marmoush, drawing a centre-back out into a good solid-looking defensive position.

Having noticed Hugo Larsson’s third-man run from deep, Ekitike played a first-time pass through the defensive line, from which Larsson doubled Frankfurt’s lead.

The vision was one thing. The softness of touch was quite another. In a strong field, it might actually have been the Bundesliga’s assist of the season. Regardless, it’s a vivid example of what Ekitike can do.

Can do, because his influence remains intermittent and, at 23 and with fewer than 150 top-flight appearances to his name in senior football, he is still a developing player.

Frankfurt are a transition team, who rarely face a deep block. He must learn how to cope with that. His chance conversion must also improve and he will need to become fiercer without the ball. If he is to fully realise his potential, then he will have to gain all the necessary experience and, ultimately, be as well coached as he has been in Frankfurt, by Dino Topmoller.

Is that Eddie Howe? Perhaps. Newcastle are still some way from reaching an agreement for Ekitike. But whichever team does strike that deal will be getting a mighty prospect.

(Top photo: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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