Forget Ekitike: Newcastle's ideal £50m alternative seems painfully obvious - opinion

It didn’t take long for Newcastle United’s pursuit of Hugo Ekitike to go south. Just a few hours after the news that they had made a £70m bid for the Eintracht Frankfurt striker broke, it became clear that not only had their bid been summarily rejected, but that Liverpool were about to come steaming into the negotiations with an offer of their own.

At least if Liverpool pursue Ekitike it means that they will have to give up – for now, at least – on their hopes of persuading Newcastle to part with Alexander Isak. Newcastle have made it as plain as they can that the Swede is not for sale, but Liverpool seemed to set to apply further pressure in the hope of unsettling him. Perhaps it would have worked.

Still, it now looks somewhat unlikely that Eddie Howe will head into the new season with Ekitike, who had become the club’s primary target as they cast about for another attacking addition following the arrival of Anthony Elanga from Nottingham Forest. But buying Ekitike always felt like a strange choice anyway – and their Plan B may make rather more sense on paper…

Why Hugo Ekitike seemed to be an awkward fit for Newcastle

The curious thing about Newcastle’s apparently abortive attempts to sign Ekitike is that his playing style, physical profile and even statistical output is remarkably similar to that of Isak. There may not be two strikers more alike operating anywhere else in Europe’s top leagues.

To spend £70m or more (Frankfurt supposedly want £85m) on a player who overlaps so closely a current star player, and moreover one who plays in a lone role up front, always felt like a strange direction of travel.

Perhaps Howe had a tactical shift in mind which would see Newcastle try playing with two strikers up top, or maybe the manager envisioned putting Isak on the left of the front three, a role he played occasionally at both St. James’ Park and with Real Sociedad before Anthony Gordon made that flank his own. There must have been a plan, but none of the scenarios in which Isak and Ekitike were on the field at the same time felt especially natural.

Ekitike is, of course, an excellent player, and perhaps the logic was simply that buying a brilliant young forward and trusting Howe to work the rest out made sense. But it always felt as though that £70m could be better spent in other positions.

Newcastle need a new centre-back and still admire Marc Guéhi, who will be cheaper than last summer due to his soon-to-be expiring contract but won’t cost pennies. Alternatives suggested in the press such as Giorgio Scalvini and Leonardo Balerdi will likely set the Magpies back at least £30m and probably more.

A central midfielder would be helpful, too, and they still need to tie up the protracted negotiations over James Trafford, or find a different goalkeeper should those fall through. Considering that Newcastle and Howe have been at pains to make the point that the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules constrict their spending quite substantially, it was hard to imagine that spending £70m on a striker wouldn’t make it harder to buy the other players that they need.

A back-up to Isak is essential, of course, but there are cheaper ways to go about it. In short, Liverpool coming in for Ekitike may be a blessing in disguise – Newcastle get to spend their money more sensibly and can breathe a little more easily when it comes to Isak’s future, too. And there’s another forward on the market who makes far more sense as a summer signing…

Yoane Wissa could be the perfect signing for Newcastle this summer

Shortly before the bid for Ekitike become public knowledge, the Newcastle Chronicle was one of a handful of outlets to claim that Newcastle were one of several teams to be interested in Brentford forward Yoane Wissa, who is widely expected to move this summer with his contract set to expire at the end of the season - and now David Ornstein claims that Newcastle are “expected” to make a bid soon.

The 28-year-old Congolese international makes more sense than Ekitike on a few different levels, starting with his positional versatility – while primarily used as a number nine at Brentford, he is more than capable of operating on the wings and typically does so for his country.

That’s extremely helpful given that Newcastle remain slightly thin on the flanks. With Elanga’s arrival the club finally has two wingers on each side once more but with rumours hinting that Harvey Barnes might leave (and the likelihood that he will miss time with another injury at some point anyway), signing a striker who can fill in down the sides of the pitch makes a considerable amount of sense. Buying Wissa would kill two birds with one stone.

He’s also a proven goalscorer at the top level in a way that Ekitike arguably isn’t. The Frenchman scored 15 times in the Bundesliga last season but arrived at Frankfurt having flopped at PSG. Wissa, meanwhile, may have been a late bloomer but hit 19 goals last season for Brentford having scored 12 the year before despite sharing the load with Ivan Toney.

Ekitike looks like a safe bet to be a reliable goalscorer moving forward, but Wissa is a known quantity and all but a guarantee of Premier League goals – indeed, among players with at least 10 league appearances last season, only five players including Isak scored at a faster rate.

Brentford are reportedly holding out for £50m for Wissa, a substantial sum for a player who turns 29 in September and who doesn’t have much time left on his current deal. From an investment point of view, one can certainly make the case that buying Ekitike would be better for the balance sheet in the long term. But if what Newcastle want to do is to spend sensibly while establishing themselves as regular contenders for the top four, it’s hard to see Wissa as anything other than the ideal signing.

There will be competition, of course. Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur are both keen and it would be a surprise if other sides weren’t monitoring the situation to some extent – but if Newcastle do get the chance to make their case to Wissa and an offer to Brentford, it’s tough to argue that it wouldn’t be a fine idea to do so.