Eddie Howe has been discussing Callum Wilson’s future on Tyneside and the complications Newcastle could face should the striker be sold.
Wilson is fit again after recovering from pectoral surgery and could make the bench at Crystal Palace tomorrow, but his future at the club is uncertain now he’s approaching the final 12 months of his contract.
This feels like our last chance to secure a fee for the 32-year-old. However, Howe has warned that it will “cost the club a lot of money” to replace him with a proven striker to compete with Alexander Isak, revealing that this is a “big talking point” behind the scenes whenever we consider a potential sale.
“It’s undoubted how I feel about Callum.” Howe said. “How I feel about his qualities and what he can offer the team. If you lose a player of that quality, to then find a player of equal standard will cost the club a lot of money. That’s always the big talking point about any business we do in the summer.
“If you lose a player, how can you replace him with the same quality with Financial Fair Play implications around the corner? There’s a lot to think about.”
With 46 goals in 104 appearances for the club, he is a proven goalscorer, yet his age, contract situation and injury woes must also be considered.
The Telegraph report that he’s received interest from Saudi Arabia and Europe. I’m sure there’s also plenty Premier League sides who’d be keen, but a lot may depend on the fee we’d receive and the cost of a potential replacement, with PSR a constant consideration as we look to improve the squad this summer.
Asked if Wilson had a point to prove over the final weeks of the season, Howe added –“I think every player has a point to prove every time they pull the Newcastle shirt on. I don’t think Callum Wilson necessarily has a point to prove in terms of his ability and what he can deliver, that’s undoubted.
“We would like him to stay fit for a prolonged period of time and to be able to execute that on a consistent basis. So, there is sort of a double edged meaning to my answer. I want every player to have that burning desire every single game to fulfil their own ambitions and certainly Callum has very big ambitions still. He’s still a very strong player and he can make a big difference for us.”
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Games lost through injury, slight loss of pace and age means there is no room for sentiment if we are ambitious and want to get to the next level.
We obviously need a replacement in before we allow him to leave which didn’t happen with Wood.
Joseph(Quote)
I think this is biggest position where we are still feeling the pain from the previous ownerships approach. There should be the conveyor belt of talent, either Academy or bought and developed then older moving off/out as where Wilson is in his career now. But due to the lack of any type of forward planning years back, we are at this point. Similar with the likes of Ritchie, Dummet, etc where we should be moving them on but haven’t got the replacements ready. If you look at City for example moving Jesus on but having Alveraz waiting/identified and giving him the time/space to grow as a player is the model I think we are after. I believe we will want at least 2 PL ready Strikers which is Isak and Wilson currently, with there understudy ready to develop. I wonder if they will stick with Wilson for another year maybe even offer a 1yr extension to buy them some time to bring in the development players. As Howe says the cost to replace like for like, it might cost +60M for a like player, rather than writing off 20M then brining in a highly rated younger player in the 20M-30M bracket for a season would still make the club better off, financially and the opportunity to work with them for a season. I think this is where Pedro was a real missed opportunity last year.
JP(Quote)
I think that we spend as little as possible on this position. I would hold on to Callum and extend his contract so as to get something next summer. In the meanwhile spending on Banza from Braga. Yes, he’s 27 but at £15m and current figures of 21 goals and four assists from 24 games he is cover off the bench for injuries.
PremAndUp(Quote)