Paris Saint-Germain boss Christophe Galtier has responded to criticism of former Newcastle United transfer target Hugo Ekitike. The young forward made his full debut for the Ligue 1 champions in the victory over Nice on Saturday.
It has been a tricky start to life in the French capital for Ekitike, with the rising star being forced to wait for opportunities to impress. The forward has featured for just 125 minutes so far in the league, while he has been an unused substitute on two occasions in the Champions League.
Eddie Howe admitted it was 'no secret' Newcastle were keen to sign Ekitike, but failed in a January and summer approach to land the Reims wonderkid. A fee was believed to have been agreed, but the 20-year-old ultimately opted for an initial season-long loan move to PSG.
READ MORE: 'Unprofessional' Hugo Ekitike slammed after PSG start with Newcastle potentially dodging bullet
Former PSG midfielder Eric Rabesandratana recently found the headlines with his criticism of Ekitike, accusing the French youth international of struggling with 'mental weakness'. However, Galtier insisted the summer arrival was 'very good' on his first start for the club.
The PSG boss said: “It was important for me to get him started with players like Ney (Neymar) and Leo (Lionel Messi). It was his first tenure.
“Obviously he does not have the benchmarks and the technical relationship that other players may have. Of course, we take Kylian [Mbappe] as a reference. But on what I asked him, he was very good. He made a lot of effort. He was also quite good technically.”
PSG looked to be on course for a frustrating home draw after Messi's opening goal was cancelled out by Gaetan Laborde. Ekitike was replaced just before the hour-mark by Mbappe, and the substitute went on to grab the winner seven minutes' from time.
Reflecting on Ekitike's full debut, Galtier said: “I simply asked him at the break to be a little more present in the penalty area because, as much between the lines, he is good but he must also be very present in the penalty area.
“He was there but a few times not when we had interesting situations. He put in a lot of effort, he had played very little until now.
“I am very happy that he was able to start and that he was able to have an hour of play to take in the atmosphere of the Park but also what a match with PSG represents, with the players who make up the squad and with this obligation of victory. Paris is an obligation to win.
“I suspected that he was going to come out at that time because automatically physically, it was going to be difficult.”
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