Ekitike ready for medical with Newcastle on the verge of full agreement - ESPN

Newcastle United signings that come out of nowhere are often the best ones, and Hugo Ektike might just follow that trend.

Sandro Tonali's £55m move from AC Milan and Alexander Isak's £63m arrival from Real Sociedad happened quickly and were largely kept under wraps.

Newcastle have clearly tried to do similar with Ekitike, with Sky Sports' Keith Downie revealing earlier that Newcastle were in Germany last week to hold talks over a deal before the player's entourage came to our training camp in Austria yesterday to push through a deal.

The club are clearly working overtime to get this wrapped up and, in a bold new report for ESPN, French journalist Julien Laurens states that Newcastle are 'on the verge' of finalising a deal worth €80m (£69.5m) with Eintracht Frankfurt.

Laurens claims that Ekitike's agent Ali Barat has been ironing out the 'last few details' with Toon chiefs ahead of a club-record transfer.

The French journalist even states that personal terms have been agreed over a five-year deal and that the 23-year-old is 'ready for his medical', suggesting it is all done on the player's side and the finer details are being finalised.

Huge claims and we'll have to hope they are true, with a move for Ekitike not only landing us a long-term target and another attacker alongside £52m recruit Anthony Elanga, but a quality and versatile forward able to play just off Isak up top.

Ekitike delivered 22 goals and 12 assists in all competitions last season and is a France under-21 international, scoring five goals in five outings for his country.