The cold, hard truth this summer is that everyone at St James’ Park has a price.
For most of the rest it will depend on the offers that come in. Newcastle need to be effective traders to rebuild their squad, so there are no sacred cows.
Where does Will Osula sit in this equation? It is a fascinating question given the trajectory the Danish striker has been on in recent months.
There is no doubt that he has taken the chance afforded to him by the uncertainty surrounding Gordon’s future and the inability of Yoane Wissa to reach the levels required. In six consecutive starts he has five goals but also the look of a striker who has what it takes to prosper in Eddie Howe’s favoured system.
His movement and understanding of the game, which looked so rudimentary when he started for an Alexander Isak-less Newcastle at Leeds United back in August, has developed hugely.
Hard work on the training ground by assistant manager Jason Tindall, who has mentored a sometimes erratic Osula over the course of the campaign, and first-team coach Graeme Jones has borne fruit in a period where he suddenly looks like a top-level striker.
The dilemma for Newcastle is this: for a club who have to become better sellers to keep the financial wheels in motion, is now the time to cash in on a player whose stock is high?
The i Paper understands that Osula does indeed have suitors, both in the Premier League and abroad.
Everton and Aston Villa have long been admirers of Osula, while interest from the Bundesliga persists. But the £30m deal Eintracht Frankfurt were proposing last summer? The feeling is it would now take nearly double that to get around the table with Newcastle.
That makes sense. Osula is only 22 and has the raw materials to get better. In terms of goals per minute, he has one every 106 minutes played – the best ratio in the Premier League.
Outperforming his expected goals (xG) significantly, it feels like he will benefit from a recruitment plan which intends to lower the age and boost the energy of a Newcastle team that has looked stale at times this season. With all that going for him, the Magpies are correct to apply a huge premium for any team interested in signing him.
As The i Paper reported earlier this year, it will be effectively “one in, one out” this summer, which means the task is to either find a buyer and take a hit on Wissa, broker the possibly unpopular sale of Nick Woltemade or reshape with what they have.
Option A – even if it has financial consequences – feels like the best route if it allows Newcastle to add another energetic forward to share the goalscoring burden with Osula and Woltemade, who looked smart in the No 10 role against West Ham.
The recruitment wheels are in motion at St James’ Park and the nature of the targets who have emerged – Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara one to watch – backs up the feeling that this will be a very different sort of transfer window on Tyneside.
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European targets, perhaps a couple of off-the-radar additions and a Premier League proven acquisition, would give Newcastle freshness, while also supporting a manager whose preference has historically been for tried and trusted.
But few expect it to be quite that easy, with plenty of competition for the likes of Camara.
A few weeks ago, the red flags were fluttering over the striker department at Newcastle. But Osula’s emergence means the prospect of a forward firesale no longer feels necessary. He has earned the opportunity to keep on improving at St James’ Park.
