The time has come to finally accept – My favourite Mag looks set to leave this summer

The time has come to finally admit: Callum Wilson will probably be leaving NUFC in the summer.

The debate over if or when to sell him has raged on since last summer, and I was firmly in the camp of keeping him.

Beyond his goal tally and ratio – particularly towards the end of last season – what I love most about Wilson is his drive. We got a glimpse into it in the We Are United documentary; the pain when he doesn’t start. The drive to get back into the team and do better. And he responds fantastically well when he doesn’t start. See that period last season.

But there’s no denying that he’s barely fit and that he’s lost at least a few yards of pace. It’s sad that when he was arguably most able to run around and create as well as score, he was forced to camp in his own half under Bruce – not spend the match completely isolated in the opposition half. But it made his work rate and goals all the more impressive.

Until this season, he very much did the same; he’s always been willing to put the work in beyond standing around as a target man, and he still knocked goals in for fun.

Now, injuries have left him lacking that pace and energy and he is a little more static. In a team with players like Gordon and Bruno, it shouldn’t be a problem, but he’s starting to look a little isolated upfront. Not only that, he’s approaching the final 12 months of his contract and he’s just turned 32, meaning this summer could be our last chance to secure a decent fee.

I was, unsurprisingly, firmly in the camp of keeping him in January. Considering that both of our strikers are so prone to injury, it would have been so stupid to sell him. That fact was proven when Isak got injured shortly after.

But in a twist of fate anyone who supports NUFC could have seen a mile off, he got a freak and potentially season-ending injury against Forest. To his ***, of all things. Absolutely ridiculous and yet perfectly in keeping with this bonkers season.

Nobody could have (really) predicted we’d potentially lose him for the remainder of the season so soon after keeping him. And definitely nobody could have guessed that surgery on his pec would be the thing that finished him!

What’s surprised me is the reaction online. People talking as if he himself is to blame for being injury-prone and suggesting they’d be quite happy to see the back of him. Really not the way our third top Premier League goalscorer should be treated after 26 goals over the past season and a half?!

Yes, he struggles with injuries – unfortunate but nobody’s fault – and he’s experienced an especially unusual one now. Yes, he’s lost some pace – probably, you know, because of all those injuries. But his attitude has never faltered and he’s been an absolutely stunning number 9 for us.

I don’t even want to admit he should go in the summer, because I almost feel awful for it – but I will say that he deserves more game time than he’d get here now if we can keep Isak fit and if we get another striker in (a HUGE priority this summer).

He deserves to be adored by a new set of supporters if he goes elsewhere and starts – and there are so many clubs he’d be the first name on your team sheet, when fit.

So thank you, Callum Wilson. Thanks for the memories – celebrating the first goal I saw you score in person in Doncaster, before I promptly nearly fell all the way down the stairs giddily singing HEYYYYY, CALLUM WILSON.

For the goals – Everton away and Man Utd at home stand out in recent seasons. For being unapologetically you, and confident in yourself. For being a proper NUFC number 9 and a top bloke to boot. I’ll miss you.