Newcastle United's transfer hopes have taken another hit after their £29million offer for Stade de Reims sensation Hugo Ekitike was rejected due to 'impossible bonuses' included in the deal.
The Magpies were bidding to sign the sought-after 19-year-old forward, who has enjoyed a superb breakout season with the French outfit.
Ekitike has bagged eight goals and registered two assists this season after only making his senior debut in August.
And it appears the Ligue 1 hotshot will be staying in north-east France beyond the January window after Reims president Jean-Pierre Caillot confirmed that Newcastle, who have won one league game all season, included a bonus for winning the Champions League.
"It is true that a lot have realised the quality of the player now, but not us. He was formed with us and it does not surprise us," Caillot told Le Quotidien du Sport.
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"Newcastle positioned themselves, we discussed it, they made us an offer that did not suit us.
"As we do not really want him to leave, we have fixed the price quite high. They did offer us €35million (£29m) all in, but with a number of bonuses, some of them were quasi-impossible to reach.
"Like for example, winning the Champions League… We want €30m (£25m) flat and €10m (£8.3m) achievable bonuses."
Magpies manager Eddie Howe is desperate to bring in striking reinforcements after star man Callum Wilson picked up yet another serious injury in December.
The new St James' Park regime have already splashed out £25m on Chris Wood from Burnley - as well as signing Kieran Trippier from Atletico Madrid - but Howe says Newcastle will "absolutely" not be held ransom in the market.
"You have to draw a line in certain situations and say, 'No, we're not going to pay that money', otherwise where does the game go? It goes to an uncomfortable place, I think," the Magpies boss affirmed.
"It's all about the individual player and judging each situation on individual merits, and that's what we've tried to do."
Howe added: "Everyone's well aware that we’re in the market for certain positions and that demand then drives the price up. There's nothing we can do about that.
"The window continues to surprise everybody, I think. But you just have to live in that world. We have the needed players that we've identified and managed to get over the line.
"The cost of those players is uncomfortable, I'm sure, for everybody – that’s not talking about the individual cases, that's just the prices of football players in general – but that’s the market we're in."
