The 19-year-old forward’s future has been doing the rounds in the rumour mill this month due to serious interest from the Premier League.
Newcastle have already held talks with Reims over signing the forward but little progress has been made on that front, despite the player being enthused by the project.
The Magpies are tied up on doing other deals and could revisit the situation again before the window closes on Monday night
But it has been claimed that one more Premier League club in the form of West Ham are now pressing ahead with their efforts to sign Ekitike.
David Moyes has been keen to add a striker to his squad since last year and are pushing the club to bring in an attacker.
Ekitike is being looked at as a serious option and West Ham are now in talks with Reims over taking the Frenchman to the London Stadium.
They are still some way away from agreeing on a deal and it could take an offer in excess of €30m to convince Reims to sell the teenage forward.
A product of the Reims academy, Ekitike is a highly-rated young talent in France and has scored eight times in Ligue 1 this season.