According to Football Insider, Newcastle United are open to offers of around £10m to part ways with their long-standing striker Callum Wilson in January.
The Magpies will be back in action tomorrow night at St James’ Park against Liverpool in the Premier League and the pressure will be mounting on Eddie Howe to deliver a performance in front of the home support.
Newcastle have struggled once again in their return from the international break, picking up just one point from their last two league fixtures after making strong progress in the two games before.
Confident victories over Arsenal and Nottingham Forest left them in a great position to challenge for an early spot inside the European qualification places, however, recent results have pushed them further way from their target and now they are 11th in the league table.
Many voices and opinions are looking for something to blame for the poor performances and inconsistent form over the campaign so far, but no blame has been more targeted on than the disastrous summer transfer window.
Despite making a few signings of fringe players like William Osula and Lloyd Kelly, a lukewarm effort to make waves in the transfer market has been the topic of conversation for the St James’ Park faithful.
New sporting director Paul Mitchell has the huge challenge of rectifying some of the glaring issues and concerns with a confident and ambitious recruitment strategy when the market reopens next month.
However, it won’t be easy for Newcastle to flex their wealth as financial fair play restrictions continue to hang over the club’s enormously wealthy owners, so selling assets could become a defining factor in how healthily they can spend in the turn of the year.
Football Insider reported over the weekend that the North East giants have now slapped a £10m price tag on out-of-contract striker Callum Wilson ahead of the January window, in order to drum up some interest in his services.
The publication claims that the 32-year-old is one of the assets the club are willing to offload, despite his fitness issues and unavailability over the season so far, and this will be their last chance to cash in on him before they decide on whether to give him a new deal or not.
Will Callum Wilson stay at Newcastle?
There is no doubt that selling fringe players would be ideal for Newcastle in January, but there is a lot to be concerned about in the attacking threat currently.
The Magpies have squandered numerous opportunities from goal-scoring positions over the last few months, with Alexander Isak struggling for form and Harvey Barnes the only winger who is prolific in the wider attacking role
Scoring and conceding 14 goals in equal measure will be causing major concern for Howe as he prepares for a visit from Liverpool tomorrow, and a trip to Brentford at the weekend where Wilson could play a key role.
Wilson, despite his awful injury record, is a consistent striker with 48 goals and 11 assists tallied up for the Tynesiders over 110 appearances and his inclusion on return of injury could be crucial in important moments going forward.
As a result, the England international – once dubbed “outstanding” by the Newcastle manager – should take every opportunity he can when selected, to prove that he can still make a credible impact in the upcoming fixtures ahead of the transfer window.
Scoring winning goals, when so few are being delivered by anyone else, could quickly change the trajectory of Wilson’s future, and it would be no surprise to see the club retract their offer to offload him elsewhere if he can come up with the goods over the coming days and weeks.
With that being said, it will be interesting to see if Wilson can get back to his best before Newcastle pull the plug on his Tyneside tenure, or become another casualty of the compliance needed to be met to bring in fresh meat.
