Newcastle United transfers: William Osula have been subject to serious transfer interest in the past two windows.
William Osula is heading into the final half-dozen games of the season as arguably Newcastle United’s first-choice striker after he was given the nod at Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Eddie Howe will refute that claim, of course. There is no such thing as a ‘first choice’ player, rather a player best suited to playing against certain opponents.
But the Newcastle boss left £119million worth of strikers in Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa on the bench once again in favour of the 22-year-old. Despite another disappointing defeat for the Magpies, Osula was one of the few positives from the match at Selhurst Park as he made the most of only his second ever Premier League start for the club with a goal.
In only seven starts this season, Osula has found the net five times - the best goals-to-starts ratio of any player in the squad. The caveat to that being the majority of his appearances this season, and indeed two of his goals, have come off the bench.
Osula epitomises Newcastle in several ways. He is physically excellent but has work to do technically, an ongoing issue and imbalance of the squad as a whole. If the pace and power isn’t working for Newcastle, things often fall flat and ideas run out.
While many could question Howe’s decision to start Osula, it was ultimately vindicated by the striker scoring a goal - which is more than Wissa or Woltemade have managed in the Premier League in 2026.
“I don't pick the team based on transfer fees,” Howe hit back. “I have to pick the team based on what I see. I thought Will Osula was training well, I think he deserved to start today, I thought he played well.
“I thought he was, again, a real positive coming out of the game, I thought he took his goal well. He's got the physical attributes, the determination to do really well. He's improving, I think, week in, week out, so I was delighted with his performance.”
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What next for William Osula?
Osula shouldn’t be the answer to Newcastle’s attacking questions, certainly not after a £119million investment in strikers last summer. But at the moment, he’s the closest thing to it, not unless Howe is prepared to completely rip up his failing strategy and start again.
With six games remaining to salvage the season, it’s unlikely.
At the very least, Osula has proven his value to Newcastle this season after being on the verge of leaving the club at the start of the season.
Eintracht Frankfurt had agreed a deal with Newcastle to sign him in the final hours of the summer window and Osula had even been given time to leave his international teammates to conclude a move.
A transfer to the Bundesliga side, worth a reported £30m, was pulled at the last minute. Osula, who also garnered interest from Aston Villa in the final days of the window, remained on Tyneside as a result.
The Gazette understands interest remains in the forward heading into the summer transfer window but Newcastle would entertain a departure with an option to bring the player back or further profit on any future sale. It leaves Newcastle and Osula with a tough decision to make given the current uncertainty up front for the side.
The club have already decided that Osula could leave if the right offer comes in. He is at an age where he needs regular first-team football while Newcastle have £119million worth of striker options burning a hole in their pocket on the bench.
When asked about his future and the transfer speculation surrounding him, Osula said previously: “Well, thank God I'm healthy and alive here now. I've had injuries, I've had a lot of ups and downs with different things.
“But that's football. So, thank God I'm here now, fully fit, no problems and I can keep going and keep running for the season.
“Well, I'm obviously at Newcastle and I have always been signed here, so that's been the focus until that's not the case. You know what I mean? But at this moment that's the case and my focus is fully on Newcastle and doing my best here and having an impact.
“I've had opportunities now and I'm playing more, so I'm really happy with that. I want to keep playing and get more opportunities.”
Osula will likely be handed more opportunities and starts in the final six games of the season as Newcastle look to climb up the table.
Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak hangover
The Magpies currently sit 14th and are on course to miss out on European qualification despite finishing fifth, qualifying for the Champions League and winning the Carabao Cup last season.
This season has been a different story, with life after Alexander Isak proving difficult for the club. There was no longer that reliable source of goals from open play in the side.
Osula, Woltemade, Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes have all contributed. Even captain Bruno Guimaraes remains the side’s top scorer in the Premier League despite missing the past two months due to injury.
And in that shows the side’s biggest problem, they’ve lacked that consistency or reliability in arguably the most important area of the pitch. When a side who have had success with a very regimented way of playing and attacking, it only takes one change for the whole thing to fall apart.
We’ve seen that this season. No matter who Newcastle’s striker is, they’ll feed off scraps. Woltemade made an art of it at the start of the season by scoring with every shot on target he had, but that was never sustainable.
And nothing about Newcastle feels sustainable right now.
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