Newcastle United are continuing to prioritise moves for Lille defender Sven Botman and Stade de Reims striker Hugo Ekitike but the Magpies have a huge list of alternatives in place if required.
Newcastle, of course, attempted to sign both Botman and Ekitike back in January but the deals broke down for different reasons. Botman was keen on joining in the mid-season window, but Lille did not want to sell the centre-back. Stade de Reims, in contrast, agreed to let Ekitike go but the striker did not feel ready to move to Newcastle at the time after the 19-year-old only made his first-team debut a few months previously.
Although Newcastle are in a better situation than they were in January, when the black-and-whites were fighting for their lives in the table, the summer window brings with it similar challenges despite there being more time to do deals. Newcastle have still been quoted inflated prices, as they were in the mid-season window, and have faced stiff competition for top targets like Botman and Ekitike from AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund respectively as talks continue.
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