Newcastle United target Hugo Ekitike is said to have agreed personal terms with the club ahead of his proposed summer move to St James Park.
The 19-year-old enjoyed a breakthrough season with French side Reims last season, finding the net 10 times in 23 league appearances.
With the Magpies said to have parted ways with £25m for the Frenchman, many pundits and coaches have weighed in with their own praise for the forward, insisting his talents are clear for all to see.
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Initially interested in the player back in January, United were reported to of had a bid turned down for the striker, with Reims manager Óscar García insisting how the teenager could go on to achieve big things.
Garcia, told The Ligue 1 Show on beINSPORTS: “There is something very special about him. He’s young, and he has the quality to become a very good player. He’s a young man with a lot of quality but also a lot to improve on, but he works hard in training.”
Missing large sections of the 21/22 campaign through injury too, Reims reserve team coach Franck Chalencon has seen Ekitike's development first hand over recent years, with the 45-year-old stating how things in the forwards have seemingly began to naturally click.
"Very young, we saw a huge potential, something natural, with a feeling for scoring a goal," Chalencon began. "He's a very clever player which has seen him to adapt and understand the expectations of professional football.
"His main quality? His instinct for goal. It's very rare that Hugo plays a game without creating a chance himself at any occasion.In front of the goal, his ratio is excellent. But he's not only a striker, he can play on the wing, too. Very technical. He knows what to do with the ball, when to keep it, when to give it.
"He is very confident about his qualities. Today, he has scored eight goals at his age. At his age, I'm not sure so many strikers can say the same. If he finishes the year as he started it, he might ending scoring 16 goals. At his age, the only ones who did that before were Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema. I'm not saying he will do the same career but statistically, the ones who can compare to him are those two."
With this summer appearing to be the perfect opportunity for Newcastle to finally secure their man, much has been made of just how the former Vejle loanee will fit in here in the Premier League too.
French football expert Julian Laurens shares that very same opinion, explaining how talent is not the question, but merely how Ekitike choses to develop and use it over the next few years.
“Right now, he would not be the saviour. He still needs to learn a lot, this is his first season really with the first team. He was on loan in Scandinavia for the last six months of last season, this is his breakthrough season in Ligue 1, he is still really raw," began Laurens.
“He’s not ready for an amazing season in the Premier League and 20 goals, for example. He needs a bit of time, and yeah, it’s a lot of money for someone that you have to give time, that isn’t going to start every game and score tons of goals straight away. He’s tall and skinny, he needs to beef up a bit, he needs to be stronger in the challenges and all of that, but he’s got amazing talent,” he added.
