Callum Wilson Is The Hero Who Newcastle United’s Dreams Possible

In 2025, Newcastle United is once again a powerhouse. Having won its first domestic trophy in 70 years and qualified for the Champions League, the future is incredibly bright. But it could be said that none of what it has achieved or will go on to achieve would be possible without Callum Wilson, the striker who announced his departure from the club on Monday.

For all the understandable frustrations around a quiet summer of transfer business, it can be easy to forget just where Newcastle came from after being taken over by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund in October 2021. But in that story, Wilson is probably the main character, donning Newcastle’s most demanding squad number. If you wear number 9, you need to be ready to handle pressure.

By then, he’d been at the club just over a year, having joined from Bournemouth for £20m ($27m) in the summer of 2020. The club he signed for was a shadow of what it is now, stripped to the bare bones in terms of staff numbers and ambition. Steve Bruce was the head coach, tasked with keeping Newcastle in the Premier League for the sole purpose of lining Mike Ashley’s pockets.

While the former owner, a sportswear tycoon, had very little interest in development of any sense, Wilson’s arrival was a change from what had become the norm. In the 13 years since he bought the club, Ashley mostly demanded young players be signed with the aim of selling for profit before they hit their peak.

At 28, and with a less than flattering injury record, Wilson didn’t fit that bill. But he knew where the goal was and there were no doubts over his ability to deliver immediately.

Bruce hoped that if he could stay fit, Wilson’s goals would stave off the threat of another relegation. A debut strike at West Ham set the tone before another 46 in the Premier League; only Alan Shearer and his now former teammate Alexander Isak have more for Newcastle. That is even more impressive considering how is injury nightmares continued to haunt him.

Ashley’s Newcastle was not a club for dreams. Bruce lacked the tactical nous to compensate for the pitiful investment in the playing squad; all he could do was hope to motivate a hard-working group spearheaded by the quality provided by Wilson and winger Allan Saint-Maximin. If they produced in the final third, Newcastle knew it had a chance of winning. There was no joy attached to that winning, but it was necessary as the city drifted, waiting and praying for a new era it could get behind.

Newcastle United has so much to thank Callum Wilson for

Fast-forward a few years, and Newcastle has outgrown Wilson. He’s now 33 and the physical toll on his body has told. With a Champions League campaign on the horizon, Newcastle cannot carry passengers. But Wilson carried it when it needed him to; that was his service, scoring the goals to keep the club relevant enough to finally rid itself of Ashley. There should be no limit to the thanks he receives.

Fittingly, it was Wilson who scored the first goal after the takeover, Bruce’s final game, against Tottenham Hotspur. Two minutes in, he reacted quickest to score in trademark fashion, but far from the first time, he was let down by the environment his coach had overseen. Newcastle was eight games into the 2020-21 season with no wins to its name, its squad unfit and directionless. They wilted and lost the match 3-2.

Although Eddie Howe, Wilson’s coach at Bournemouth, came in, it took weeks for him to change the club’s fortunes. His first win came against Burnley in December; 14 games had past by that point, nobody had ever stayed up from such a position, but Howe believed. There are no prizes for guessing who scored the winner that day.

Howe has transformed Newcastle since, and Wilson’s role evolved. He didn’t need to be the saviour anymore, but continued to be first choice striker even after Isak arrived in August 2022 due to the Swede picking up a serious injury. He played for England at that year’s World Cup in Qatar and scored 18 goals in all that season, dovetailing with Isak nicely by the end as Newcastle lost in the Carabao Cup final to Manchester United but qualified for the Champions League.

This should have been Wilson’s line in the sand. With Newcastle needing to adhere to Profit and Sustainability Rules, sales are something it has struggled with, but he had two years remaining on his contract at St James’ Park and his stock was high; it never recovered. Injuries took a stronger hold and the goals dried up; last season, despite still being second choice behind Isak, he didn’t score one league goal.

None of that is his fault, but frustration built up in the fanbase and developed into resentment from a section. Wilson has always deserved credit, and leaving now means any negativity will dissipate, leaving only goodwill.

There is a wonderful clip of Wilson after the cup win in March. With his medal wrapped round his neck, he thrusts it towards the camera beaming with pride and says: “From the relegation battles, to this!”

Without him, that journey would not have been possible. He more than lived up to the billing as Newcastle United’s number 9.