Hugo Ekitike has claimed he was 'lucky' to join PSG after the Frenchman passed up the chance to get more game time at Newcastle United.

Newcastle attempted to recruit Ekitike in both the mid-season and summer windows in 2022 - before the Magpies even smashed their transfer record to sign Alexander Isak - but the former Stade de Reims striker plumped for a move to PSG. Eddie Howe harboured 'no hard feelings' towards Ekitike, though, and the Newcastle boss insisted he 'really did wish him luck' after the black-and-whites missed out.

Ekitike went on to score just four goals for PSG and the Frenchman was not even included in the Parisian giants' Champions League squad last season. Ekitike, as a result, could only watch on from the stands when PSG faced Newcastle at the Parc des Princes.

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Although Ekitike ultimately had to leave PSG to get his career back on track, at Eintracht Frankfurt, the 22-year-old maintained he had no regrets after getting the chance to learn from Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.

"At the time, I didn't see things like that because I wanted to play," he told TNT Sports. "But it's only now, after spending a lot of time at home reflecting on what happened, that I've realised that I've been lucky enough to be in a place where no one else has been.

"I'm always on a quest to learn. I have a thirst for learning. I realised that at the end of the day, I'd maybe spent a year, a year-and-a-half watching the best players in the world go through their paces in training and even in matches. Sometimes up close, sometimes a little further away."