Callum Wilson signs for Newcastle

DiVaio said:

we have Lucas Moura who didn't score a goal in PL or CL since 15.12.2019. Wilson still has very good numbers in mid table team.

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dtxspurs said:

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PrettyColors said:

I get that his player profile from 2 years ago is tempting, but:

Callum Wilson - Stats 19/20

Player stats of Callum Wilson (Newcastle United) ➤ Goals ➤ Assists ➤ Matches played ➤ All performance data

www.transfermarkt.us

Callum Wilson played 16 matches from October 6th, 2019 to January 21st, 2020. Missed out on one due to a knock, but played, and started, in 15 games in that span. With substitutions, that's a sum of 1,201 minutes (yes, 1,201, aka 20 hours of football) with no goals, no assists, and only one win for Bournemouth in that entire run of form. And Eddie Howe picked Wilson to lead the line in every single game. Mind, he was partnered with Dom Solanke in half and Josh King in the other half, and Bournemouth were obviously dire. But how can you seriously look at a guy who has gone through two knee surgeries, lost a step of pace, and only scored 3 goals in 21 starts since October and say he's going to be the back-up and attacking option off the bench we need?

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kent brockman said:

So who do you want instead?

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Saoirse said:

If we can get him at a similar-ish price, I'd go for Edouard from Celtic. The downside would be that it might be a matter of waiting till later in the window and hoping they're not in the Champions League so there's a bit more pressure on them to sell. But he's younger and in my opinion a more talented player

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bbunc said:

Agreed, we should also try to get Lewandowski or Mbappe if they’re available for 10M.

Edouard is 35-40M. Of course he’s better/younger/etc. that’s why he’s 30M more expensive.

Wilson isn’t that exciting, and I wish UncleJoe was going to get the checkbook out, but he isn’t.

if we only have 10M to buy a striker, find me a realistic a better alternative.

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C0YS said:

Still finished top scorer for Bournemouth. Ultimately, you can only do with what you're given. He had 1.6 shots a game, to put that in context that is the same amount of shots as Lucas. His conversion rate was very good. 1.6 is by far the lowest rate he has ever had in the PL so you would hope that it shows that it was more of a team issue than him.

Wilson is not an inspiring option, but he will do the job, His injuries were ages ago. Didn't get a single meaningful injury last season, though he missed 8 games last season. His rate last season was very good and he started the season strongly too. He went through a barren spell, but that's very common in teams at that level. And, well, in fact, Abraham also had a very similar run.

Again, his best season was 18/19, that wasn't too long ago at all.

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he is you know! said:

2020 equivalent of Ben up a tree doesn't exactly generate the excitement of the mind.....

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dtxspurs said:

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rossdapep said:

Exactly.

Two of Bournemouth's most creative players were Brooks and Fraser.

One was injured the majority of the season and the other hand clearly had his head turned prior to the season and it effected him greatly.

For what it's worth I always felt that Wilson was lively whenever we played them at the Vitality stadium over the years.

When building a competitive squad you don't just look for the big names you have to have players who are going to give 100% and push whenever they are given opportunities.

If you look at Championship teams over the years they'll always have options that aren't deemed superstars
Here's a general list over the years of support strikers who have played their part despite not being spectacular players - Olic,/Pizarro/Wagner (Bayern), Origi (Liverpool), Remy/Batshuayi (Chelsea), Ulloa (Leicester) Adrian Lopez (Atletico), Quagliarella/Osvaldo/Zaza (Juve) etc etc

Some of these were excellent players that started frequently because they were dependable, others chipped in with 8-14 goals and scored big ones to help when big games.

It's important to remember that we aren't looking for the world's best player, we need a functional option who can chip in with a goal here and then but more importantly give us continuation in terms of a goal threat. If Kane can rest up from time to time that may add an extra 10+ goals to his final season tally too.

We tried the next big goalscorer (Janssen) it didn't work because him and Kane were not compatible and cause Janssen suffered in front of goal.

We tried the experienced plan B but whilst Llorente helped us win massive games he wasn't fitting with our system and not mobile enoigh.

Wilson is neither like those two. He's mobile, he can run the channels, he's a predator, he's full of effort and running. So if his work rate and commitment help us become more of a threat and give others goalscoring opportunities he'll be well worth it.

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Archibald&Crooks said:

Possible scapegoat in the making then

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C0YS said:

I do agree generally. Though some of those examples are not particularly great ones. Osvaldo was awful at Juve for one.

I think retrospectively you have to see Llorente as a big big hit, and if he was younger I'm sure we would have tried to keep him. OK never got goals in the PL, but very good in the cups, but more than that genuinely offered us a plan B and people could play off him. We really could have done with that plan be earlier on in this season!

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Saoirse said:

If we can get him at a similar-ish price, I'd go for Edouard from Celtic. The downside would be that it might be a matter of waiting till later in the window and hoping they're not in the Champions League so there's a bit more pressure on them to sell. But he's younger and in my opinion a more talented player

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spursfan77 said:

It’s not a massive stretch to say had we kept Llorente we could well of got top 4. Those games in January were a real fucker for our season. I’d love to know the rationale for not giving him another year with no other strikers being bought last summer. Madness.

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Sweech said:

Wouldn't be surprised if Callum had a tour of the training facilities. That said it's not a guarantee we'd be signing him. Many players have had the tour and not ended up signing.

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