What a time for Hugo Ekitike to make his first visit to St James’ after Liverpool won the race, ahead of Newcastle, to sign the French striker last month.
Ekitike is a player that Howe knows well and, without blinking, he can file a concise screening report: a very good movement, intelligent, good in the air, marks the goals of both feet. It was the decline. This is why Newcastle wanted it.
“There is no doubt that I really like Hugo and that I did it for several years,” said Howe. “It was someone we followed for a long time.”
It is an understatement.
In fact, Newcastle tried to sign Ekitike three times over a period of three and a half years.
Newcastle took its first step in January 2022 when Ekitike was not exactly a familiar name.
But the 23 -year -old always had immense potential.
Few know that better than the former manager of Brighton, Oscar Garcia, who worked with Ekitike in Reims at the time.
“You can’t find many attackers like him at this age,” Garcia recently told BBC Sport. “It is large, fast, mobile, very good against one, holds the ball and scores goals. It can adapt to teams that play more on the counterattack, but also with teams with more possession because it has the skill for both styles.
“Hugo knows which aspects he can improve, but he also needs help to develop his potential to reach the level that all people who know him believe to reach.”
Newcastle was not alone among the Premier League clubs to recognize these qualities.
Liverpool had also followed Ekitike for some time after the attacker rediscovered his spark at Eintracht Frankfurt following a frustrating spell in Paris St-Germain.
Newcastle may have made the opening offer to Eintracht last month, but Ekitike had its goal on a move of 69 million pounds Sterling in Liverpool after talking before Slot before.
It turned out to be an important moment in the transfer window. In more ways than one.
