‘He’s like Isak’ – Newcastle missed out on eight-goal striker thriving at Premier League rivals

With Nick Woltemade still struggling to revive his early-season form, Newcastle may have been left to rue over a missed target.

talkSPORT’s Inside Toon show in particular have reflected on how the team could have fared if they managed to sign Hugo Ekitike.

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During the summer, Newcastle set their sights on the French striker and travelled to Germany for talks with Eintracht Frankfurt.

They made an offer that included a £70million guaranteed, but it was Liverpool who completed the signing with a total £79m deal.

Newcastle were later dealt another huge blow as the Reds also signed their wantaway forward Alexander Isak for a British record £125m.

A striker solution was found though, with the Magpies opting to sign Woltemade from VfB Stuttgart in a club-record deal worth £69m.

The German has netted nine goals in 33 outings, with seven of those coming in the Premier League.

Yoane Wissa also joined from Brentford for £55m and has scored three times, but Ekitike has eclipsed their combined tally at Liverpool.

Ahead of the two sides’ league clash on Saturday, live on talkSPORT, the Inside Toon panel assessed the club’s missed opportunity.

“Ekitike has had a pretty good first season, pity we didn’t get him but there you go,” Shaun Custis said.

“When I look at him, I do think, ‘That was the, sort of, ideal between Woltemade and Wissa.’

“He’s in the middle, isn’t he? Can do a bit of all of it.”

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Ekitike has scored 13 goals for Liverpool and his eight league goals put him joint-fifth in the Golden Boot race.

The 23-year-old is nine goals away from equalling his total during the 2024/25 season at Frankfurt.

He displayed his quality in front of the Newcastle faithful in August at St. James’ Park by scoring in a dramatic 3-2 win for Liverpool.

It’s a moment that remains fresh in the memories of Toon fans, with Jack Cunningham joking that Ekitike hates the club.

“You could see why Newcastle identified him, because he is like Isak in basically a lot of ways,” Cunningham said.

“He’s turned us down twice! He turned us down initially before we signed Isak, when he was at Reims and he joined PSG.

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“Then he turned us down again, and then he scored against us St. James’ Park.”

Crucial clash on Merseyside

The Saturday 8pm kick-off at Anfield could deliver a gritty, hard-fought clash between two sides eyeing qualification for Europe.

Liverpool are winless in their past five league matches, with their last fixture ending in a 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth.

Only two points separate them and fourth-place Manchester United, who host Fulham on Sunday afternoon.

Their visitors Newcastle will arrive on a winless streak of 29 matches in league trips to Anfield.

Should they finally claim victory at the 30th time of asking, they will overtake Liverpool.