Newcastle ‘close in on £33m Reims striker Hugo Ekitike after Arsenal reject transfer bid for Eddie Nketiah’

NEWCASTLE have had an offer totalling £33million for French wonderkid Hugo Ekitike accepted by French side Stade Reims.

Toon had seen an earlier bid of around £29m rejected earlier in the window but are now confident of landing the striker before Monday's 11pm deadline.

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Ekitike, 19, has scored eight goals in 18 Ligue 1 appearances this season and was also being tracked by West Ham.

The Magpies will pay £25m up front and up to £8m in add-ons for the France U20 star.

Newcastle have been desperately trying to land another forward and were interested in Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah, but the Gunners are reluctant to lose him.

They have also not given up hope of a late loan swoop for Jesse Lingard, although it requires Manchester United to lower their demands for the England midfielder. 

The Magpies are also closing in on signing Brighton defender Dan Burn for £13million.

Aston Villa's Matt Targett also looks likely to join.

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The left-back looks likely to join Newcastle on loan after Villa signed Lucas Digne.

Digne went straight into Steven Gerrard's starting line-up, banishing Targett to the substitutes bench.

Targett, 26, has featured 19 times this season scoring just once.

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