Alexander Isak has come into the Newcastle United first-team ahead of Callum Wilson and with three goals in two games, has pretty much made that spot his own.
The timing couldn’t be any better for Eddie Howe as Callum Wilson has been seriously misfiring since he returned to Newcastle from World Cup duty with England. He’s by far the only Newcastle player who has struggled to get back up to speed since the restart, but he’s definitely been one of the most noticeable.
The £20million signing from Bournemouth has been a reliable number nine when he’s played, but his poor injury record has limited the amount of actual game time at Newcastle since he arrived in 2020. However, 2023 hasn’t been the best year for the England striker.
Wilson hasn’t scored for Newcastle since 4th February
Since the turn of the year he’s netted just once which was in the 1-1 draw with West Ham at the start of February.
Wilson has found himself on the bench more often than not lately and missing training quite often. The story always being that he’s got an illness or a niggle.
Stewart Robson spoke about Newcastle on ESPN after their win against Nottingham Forest on Friday and singled out Wilson for criticism, saying: “They’re back to playing to somewhere near their best, and the manager’s made a good decision to get Isak back in the side.
“He was easing him back by playing him in the second half of games. Callum Wilson was having a really poor time at centre-forward, I thought all their build-up play was good and Callum Wilson was letting them down, to a certain degree.
“But they look to be back to where they were maybe a month or so ago before their poor run. They played at pace, they got crosses into the box, Isak led the line really well. It was a good performance from Newcastle and they deserved to win by more than just the odd goal.”
Time could be running out for Wilson
Wilson is a fan favourite on Tyneside, but could his days be numbered at Newcastle? His injuries are a major concern and his form has dropped off massively this year.
We know Eddie Howe likes Wilson, but you’ve got to imagine he’s keeping an eye on things and making notes for the summer.
Of course, form is temporary, class is permanent. We all know how good Wilson can be, he’s even been called ‘phenomenal‘ by Paul Merson, so there’s nothing to say that he can’t bounce back from this torrid spell. But will it be too little too late? Howe will be looking to improve the squad this summer and Wilson could be a casualty of the big shake-up if he doesn’t get his act together.