Newcastle United transfer U-turn on £40m-rated Aston Villa target after five-year deal agreed claim
Newcastle United transfers: The Magpies had agreed to sell William Osula last summer before a late U-turn changed their plans.
Newcastle United are planning for next season with William Osula, despite the striker being heavily linked with a move away.
The Magpies agreed to sell the 22-year-old last summer, with a deal lined up with Eintracht Frankfurt, which ultimately fell through on deadline day. Aston Villa also pushed for a move but walked away due to UEFA financial rules.
Osula was later ruled out for over two months with an ankle injury, with reports from Bild in Germany claiming he had agreed a five-year deal to join Frankfurt in January. Ultimately, Frankfurt couldn’t strike a deal with Newcastle and a move never materialised.
Newcastle United open to William Osula exit in January
During the January transfer window, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe admitted that the club would be open to letting Osula leave the club, on one condition.
“I think the only way that we would consider [Osula leaving] would be for his development and growth in terms of benefiting his career to play but always with a view to him coming back to us,” Howe told The Gazette.
Osula remaining at Newcastle has worked out well for the player, who has seen his first-team opportunities increase significantly in recent months.
And he has rewarded the faith shown in him by Howe with four goals in his last six Premier League appearances, only four of which have been starts.
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William Osula W-turn
The Danish forward ending the season as Newcastle’s first-choice striker ahead of £119million duo Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa as well as top scorer Anthony Gordon has seen Howe change his tune.
“Would definitely like to keep him,” Howe admitted. “I think Will’s a player of really rich promise and he was when we signed him.
“We signed him with the view of developing him to try and build him to become a Premier League player, because that certainly wasn’t the player that we recruited.
“There was a lot of work and time that has gone into his development. Graeme Jones and Jason Tindall have done an incredible job helping his development, analysing his game, feeding back to him, and Will has done really well to stay stable, level, and commit to that development and see the longer-term plan.
“Great to see, then, when he comes into the team and gets an opportunity that he grabs it. He is very hungry, he is very motivated, he believes in himself.”
The club’s stance on Osula’s future has gone from a player who would be available for a transfer to one that would take a significant fee in order for a sale to be considered. The Gazette understands that Newcastle will be looking to sign a striker this summer, which casts doubt over the future of all of their striker options.
The Daily Mail reported that Osula would likely command a fee of over £40million this summer, and he isn’t short of potential suitors. In addition to Aston Villa and Frankfurt - Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Crystal Palace and Everton have also been credited with an interest.