Callum Wilson has opened up on why he decided not to stay at Newcastle United
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe and Callum Wilson
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe and Callum Wilson(Image: Newcastle United via Getty Images)
Former Newcastle United striker Callum Wilson admits he sometimes put his hand up to play knowing he wasn't 100 per cent fit, such was his committment to the Magpies cause.
The popular No 9 bade an emotional farewell the club last month as he departed following the end of his contract. Wilson has yet to decide on his next move after joining up with DAZN's commentary team for the Club World Cup.
He will always be remembered fondly for his goals and overall contribution on Tyneside, playing a big part in the club's revival under Eddie Howe and the new owners, having been a rare ray of hope durng the final years of the Mike Ashley era.
His dreadful luck with injuries meant he didn't score as many goals for the club as he deserved, but he insists he still has plenty to offer - and revealed he would play through the pain in order to help Newcastle.
In an exclusive interew with the i Paper, Wilson said: “Nobody likes to get injured, no one wants to get injured and a lot of the time it was because I was selfless and put myself forward to play in games when I wasn’t 100 per cent fit to try and help the team because we might not have had a striker. It was to the detriment of myself and that’s why I then had these setbacks.
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“Of course I could have sat down and said ‘No actually I’m not going to play’ and stuff like that but I came to the club to help the club and do a job for them.
“When I’m working with a manager I have so much respect for and have worked with for so many years I would basically, for my staff and teammates, do anything in my powers to help.
"That’s what I did do and unfortunately, like I say, I had my fair share of setbacks because of it. But I wouldn’t change anything.”
Leeds United and Burnley have expressed interest in the former England striker, who feels he still has much to give. United fans didn't see the best of him in his final months at the club, but while there is no bitterness over the path his Newcastle career took, he knows he can offer more if given a bigger role.
“When you’re coming on for five, 10 minutes here and there within a game everyone thinks that you can’t play longer than that,” he added.
“Everyone thinks ‘he’s losing a yard of pace’, all these other things, but obviously coming on as a substitute is completely different to starting a game.
“When you come on as a sub it’s so hard to catch a second wind and before you know it the game is over. That was the only thing for me. I still feel I can offer so much.
“I had conversations with the manager [Eddie Howe] and we established that I’m not at a point mentally where I’m ready to sit on the bench and play No 2 for the whole season.
“I don’t mind yo-yoing here and there but it’s got to be a fair fight.”