Newcastle United striker Will Osula has been attracting Bundesliga interest. This is him in action in pre-season at Celtic.placeholder image
Newcastle United striker Will Osula has been attracting Bundesliga interest. This is him in action in pre-season at Celtic. | Getty Images
Newcastle United’s striker situation has dominated the headlines this summer - and it could be yet to take another transfer twist.
A striker, any striker. Well, not any old one, just one who is worthy of leading the Newcastle United line in the absence of sulky skiver Alexander Isak. Not an easy task, evidence suggests.
The Magpies have had a full summer to sign a replacement for Callum Wilson, who left for West Ham United on a free transfer, and have managed so far, to land nothing but a lengthy list of rejections. Liam Delap, Joao Pedro, Hugo Ekitike, Benjamin Sesko and so on.
With Wilson departed, and Isak doing laps and shooting drills on his own at the club’s Benton training base, Newcastle have been forced to turn to Anthony Gordon as a makeshift frontman. And, it’s fair to say, while Gordon played well at Aston Villa, United looked like a blunt instrument without a focal point, and the fear is that could well be the case again against Liverpool and beyond to Leeds United at the weekend.
NUFC striker search goes on
So, with Gordon up top, and Isak in need of some serious reintegration, the search for a striker goes on. Yoane Wissa has proven too rich for the Magpies, with Brentford shifting price tags and goalposts in recent weeks, but the player remains on the agenda despite an unlikely £50million label on his head.
Should Newcastle land a Wissa-type, with a select band of others being considered, including Nicholas Jackson of Chelsea, then it still wouldn’t trigger any further Liverpool to NUFC talks on Isak. It would, however, solve an Eddie Howe headache.
But could it also trigger another move?
Will Osula exit - could it happen?
At this stage, Will Osula is the only recognised striker on the books. However, despite holding that title, Howe has not turned to him to lead the line - and is unlikely to do so again on Monday v Liverpool.
That suggests that, despite a year’s worth of training, the player still cannot be trusted by Howe at Premier League level. So, it begs the question, if he doesn’t play now, when is he ever going to play?
That has led to some suggesting he could leave. And he could, but only if the Magpies bring another frontman through the door, and managed to bring Isak back in line.
Sky Sports Germany are reporting: “William #Osula is one to watch until Deadline Day. The 22 y/o striker could still leave Newcastle in the coming days. There is also interest from the Bundesliga. Bayer 04 Leverkusen have him on their radar, but nothing is advanced yet.”
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