Barring a handful of stars and dependable favourites, it’s proving to be an incredibly difficult task of breaking into and staying in Eddie Howe’s current Newcastle setup.

Competition for places has never been tougher, with clearly talented players like Lewis Miley, Fabian Schar and Harvey Barnes often forced to watch from the sidelines or play out of position.

And it wouldn’t come as any major surprise if certain stars, particularly during a World Cup year, seek opportunities and first team minutes elsewhere.

That looks to be the case for Will Osula, as a new report reveals that negotiations over a transfer are now stepping up after the player agreed terms with a certain German club.

Osula Frankfurt bound?

According to Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg, Will Osula is edging closer and closer towards a Newcastle exit, with talks over a loan-to-buy move to Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt progressing.

Plettenberg comments that not only does Osula want the move to Frankfurt, he’s already agreed terms with the former Europa League winners over a possible move and is now waiting for the two clubs to strike a deal.

On that note, it appears Newcastle are far more open to a transfer compared to deadline day, where a deal (once touted to be worth £30m) reportedly broke down due to Frankfurt’s late preference for a loan deal without an obligation to buy.

So what’s changed? Perhaps the player realises he is well and truly third choice behind Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa, and is now urging the club to reach a compromise for the sake of his playing time?

That said, Newcastle won’t agree to any old deal, meaning the purchase price in any option to buy next month would have to be sufficient and upwards of £20m, I would imagine.

Who could be our new third striker?

As excellent a pair of strikers Woltemade and Wissa are, we still need sufficient depth in attack if we want to compete across the Premier League, Champions League and domestic cups in 2026 and beyond.

Having that third striker option is imperative, and whilst Osula’s likely departure suggests we have someone in mind, the more pressing matter appears to be full-back cover heading into the new year.

For now, we may allow Osula to leave and see Sean Neave to step into the first team squad as a rotation option, as we’ve already seen the 18-year-old feature on the bench in both the Premier League and Carabao Cup, with Howe thought to rate him very highly.