S Poddar
Newcastle United fans and pundits alike have long debated Callum Wilson’s future at the club, but one thing is now clear: Eddie Howe wants the striker to stay. Despite the speculation that may have been swirling about whether the time of Wilson at St James’ Park might be coming to an end, Howe has reaffirmed the value of the player to the team and his desire to extend the contract beyond this season.
Wilson, who has endured his share of injury problems, was reminded of his quality as Newcastle won their FA Cup tie with Birmingham City. While he suffered an unfortunate deflection off his boot to gift Birmingham the early lead, he soon restored parity. Wilson’s cross helped equalize for Newcastle and he went on to score a goal, showing why he is often in the right place at the right time.
Wilson injury history, so many question should the club finally move on with him. How has continually placed emphasis on striker importance. His response when queried about whether it would be alright to let him go when the contract is close to expiry came as follows. “Yes —I totally agree,” he replied. “That’s why Callum is such a valuable player for us. It’s one of those situations where it is like the art of goalscoring and finishing is being eradicated. I don’t see a huge amount of strikers in world football who can do what Callum can do.
Howe admits that he is a huge admirer of the abilities of Wilson but also referred to the elephant in the room: the striker’s fitness. “The big thing for us is can we keep Callum fit?” Howe added. It remains to be seen how Wilson’s ability to stay healthy will play a role in his future at the club.
Newcastle’s injury fears are not confined to Wilson. The team only has 19 outfield players to choose from after the international break. The more significant issue for Howe, though, is the absence of players like Dan Burn, Anthony Gordon, and Sven Botman, who were all nursing their respective injuries ahead of the fixture. Training minutes and recovery, according to Howe, will play a big part in the next few weeks.
“It is probably the key thing for us now,” he said. “We can talk about it, and we are aware of it, but you can’t necessarily control it. We can try to control the minutes in training and things behind the scenes. We just don’t want to go where we were last year. Then we could not really control our strength, and we got hit several times. Obviously, that weakened us massively last year.”
Despite the challenges, there have been bright spots for Newcastle. One of them is the emergence of young forward William Osula, who has been making the most of his opportunities. After scoring against Bromley, Osula impressed again with his direct running and pace against Birmingham. Although he missed a clear chance in the first half, he contributed with two assists, showing glimpses of his potential.
Howe spoke of Osula’s versatility and work ethic and said, “I think he can play any of the front three positions. Anything that shows his pace, I think that’s his best asset. You saw that with his direct running. I think he’s got goals in him; he’s a natural goal scorer. There are a few rough edges we need to improve, but he’s a massive player for us now.
Newcastle has had a challenging season so far, and there is a definite push to find that balance between short-term results and long-term build. For Howe, keeping Wilson at the club is part of that strategy. His experience, goal-scoring instincts, and leadership qualities just aren’t things that are easily replaced.
Publicly speaking, the final words still remain with the club’s hierarchy, but Howe endorsing Wilson should suffice enough to send a message across: there is still much more to offer from 31-year-old Wilson. Whether it’s his muscle in delivery or his influence on the dressing room, Wilson at St James’ Park may just save the day for Newcastle as it builds on its recent progress.
For now, fans will be hoping to see more of Wilson’s magic on the pitch—and perhaps even a new contract announcement in the near future. After all, as Howe pointed out, players like Wilson, who can consistently find the back of the net, are becoming increasingly rare in modern football.
