William Osula gives Newcastle United new signing quality nickname after teasing Liverpool debut
Newcastle United are set to hand out some St James’ Park Premier League debuts against Liverpool on Monday evening.
The match is shaping up to be a fiery encounter after the saga surrounding Newcastle, Liverpool and Alexander Isak this summer.
Isak is not expected to be involved in the match after going on strike at Newcastle for the past month in a bid to force a move to Liverpool. He remains a Newcastle player despite issuing a statement confirming his wish to leave in the week leading up to the match.
The Magpies opened the season with a 0-0 draw at Aston Villa last weekend, while Liverpool got their title defence off to a winning start with a 4-2 victory over AFC Bournemouth.
Newcastle won the last meeting between the sides in the Carabao Cup final back in March, with Isak scoring what turned out to be the winning goal to help Eddie Howe’s side end a 70-year domestic trophy drought. But United haven’t beaten Liverpool in the Premier League since a 2-0 win at St James’ Park back in December 2015.
Now they will look to end their winless league run without an established striker as part of their squad.
Newcastle United striker decision confirmed
Ahead of Monday’s match against Liverpool, Newcastle boss Howe confirmed Isak would not be available for selection and hinted that Anthony Gordon would lead the line again as he did at Villa Park.
Gordon’s favoured position is out on the left wing, having scored in each of his last two appearances against The Reds from that position at St James’ Park.
William Osula is the only striker available to Howe but is yet to start a Premier League game for the club a year after his arrival, having been limited solely to substitute appearances.
Newcastle will be boosted by new signings Jacob Ramsey and Malick Thiaw, who could each make their debuts for the club on Monday. Anthony Elanga, who started against Aston Villa, is also likely to make his home debut.
William Osula has new nickname for Malick Thiaw
Thiaw teased his first St James’ Park appearance on social media in the days leading up to the match.
The 24-year-old defender posted images of himself in training on Instagram along with the caption: “Looking forward for St James! @nufc.”
Thiaw’s fellow defender Sven Botman commented with a ‘fingers crossed’ emoji as he also waits to make his first appearance of the new season.
Elanga referenced Thiaw’s heritage as he commented: “Senegal rekkk.”
The defender was born in Germany and represented the country three times on the international stage. He could have also represented Senegal through his father or Finland through his mother.
But it was Osula who gave Newcastle’s new defender a hopefully fitting nickname heading into the Liverpool game.
The Danish forward commented, ‘Machine,’ which was promptly liked by Thiaw.
In addition to Thiaw, Osula will also be hoping to make an appearance at St James’ Park amid uncertainty over his future.
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William Osula linked with NUFC exit
Despite being Newcastle’s only recognised striker, Osula is still not Howe’s favoured option to lead the line. Even in Isak’s absence last season, Howe opted to play Callum Wilson or Gordon up front.
While Osula was signed as a project striker for Newcastle, he’s now 22-years-old and takes up a place in the 25-man Premier League squad. He’s also the same age Isak was when Newcastle signed him for a club record fee in 2022 and a similar age to two of the club’s top transfer targets this summer in Benjamin Sesko and Hugo Ekitike.
If Osula was going to be the successor for Isak or even Wilson, more faith would have been put in him by now. As things stand, he is still that project striker in the Newcastle squad but is of an age where he needs to be playing regularly in order to fulfil his potential.
As such, Osula has been linked with a move away from Newcastle this summer should Newcastle be able to make at least one striker signing before the September 1 deadline.
Sky Sports Germany have reported: “William #Osula is one to watch until Deadline Day. The 22 y/o striker could still leave Newcastle in the coming days. There is also interest from the Bundesliga. Bayer 04 Leverkusen have him on their radar, but nothing is advanced yet.”