Callum Wilson is consoled by his Newcastle United team-mates
Callum Wilson is consoled by his Newcastle United team-mates
Callum Wilson lifted the gold medal up for the cameras.
"From the relegation battles to this," boomed as he made his way to the dressing room at Wembley.
had just defeated in the Carabao Cup final to end a 70-year wait to win a major domestic trophy. It was the first big honour of Wilson's career. The sort of triumph that, at one stage, might not have seemed possible.
Only Wilson has never lacked belief. This was a player, after all, who wrote 'pack for Qatar' in his diary four months before he was named in the England squad for the 2022 World Cup. To think Wilson was not even in the England picture at the time and had not represented the Three Lions for three years.
However, there is a reason why Eddie Howe repeatedly warned 'you can never write off Callum Wilson'. The striker proved it time and time again, whether it was twice coming back from serious knee injuries during his time at Bournemouth or embracing the arrival of Alexander Isak and playing a key role in Newcastle qualifying for the Champions League in 2023.
It is not an exaggeration to say that Newcastle would not be where they are without Wilson's contributions following his £20m move from Bournemouth five years ago.
For context, at the time, Jonjo Shelvey was fresh from finishing as the club's top scorer with just six league goals while the number nine shirt was weighing heavily on the back of Joelinton, who had not yet been reborn as a midfield destroyer.
No wonder Steve Bruce went to 'war' with Mike Ashley to sign Wilson after the former Newcastle owner had reservations about the striker's injury record - and that was before mentioning the wages and the fee involved for a player in his late twenties at the time.
Yet Wilson ended up proving one of the most important signings in Newcastle's history. Newcastle needed a proper number nine - and they certainly got one: the nous, the mentality, the goals...
In fact, it took Wilson less than an hour to open the scoring on his debut against West Ham, his favourite opponent. Wilson looked to the sky as he celebrated and thought of his grandad, who was a Newcastle fan. Not for the last time.
There were 49 goals in total. Who could forget the double at Goodison Park to end a grim losing streak when Newcastle appeared to be sinking in 2021? Or the bullet header that took the roof off St James' in the first game of the new era the following season? Or the winner against Burnley that secured Howe and Newcastle's first win of the campaign? Or another decisive goal at Spurs to lay down a marker in the race for the Champions League in 2022? Or the crucial braces against Southampton and Leeds United during the run-in?
It said it all that Graeme Jones, Newcastle United's assistant manager, who worked with both Harry Kane and Romelu Lukaku in their pomp for England and Belgium, rated Wilson as the best 'match day finisher' he had seen.
Wilson would have scored even more if it was not for niggling injury issues, which ultimately limited the veteran to 130 appearances in all competitions.
No one was more frustrated by those setbacks than Wilson, himself, who even paid out of his own pocket to see specialists around the globe to try and get to the bottom of one particular issue last season.
Now feels like the right time to go, though, for a player who has understandably not quite looked the same force in the twilight of his career.
Wilson leaves with his legacy intact and the reception the number nine received as he embarked on an emotional solo lap on the final day of last season has been mirrored by the flurry of messages the striker has been sent since announcing his departure.
Joe Willock called Wilson 'one of the best this club has seen' while Anthony Gordon hailed his former team-mate as one of the 'most inspiring people' he had met.
The final word? That goes to Jacob Murphy. "The mark you left is bigger than you'll ever know brother."
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