Eddie Howe opens up on ‘pain’ of Callum Wilson’s Newcastle exit as he pays him ultimate compliment

Wilson will return to St James’ Park on Sunday evening as a West Ham United player

Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe and Callum Wilson(Image: Newcastle United via Getty Images)

Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe has admitted there was a ‘lot of pain’ involved in Callum Wilson’s departure from the club but insists it was the right time for all parties to move one.

Wilson left Newcastle after five years last summer after a mutual agreement was reached that they would not extend his contract beyond the end of last season.

The 34-year-old remains a huge fan favourite on Tyneside, having been a regular goalscorer both before and after the club’s takeover in October 2021 and he thrived working under Howe for a second time having previously played for him at Bournemouth.

But injuries in his final season at the club limited his progress and having been on an even keel with Alexander Isak in the Swede’s first two seasons at the club, Howe admitted Wilson struggled playing second fiddle in the striking pecking order.

Get Chronicle Premium now for just £1 HERE – exclusive news and features, our NUFC and Academy notebooks, plus an ad-lite experience

“It was difficult for Callum,” Howe explained. “Callum wanted to be the focal point number nine; he wanted to play every game. He’d had a period where he was behind Alex [Isak] and not getting the minutes that he wanted.

“The psychology of Callum is – and this is why he’s had so much success – that he is the best striker to play in any environment, and that’s the credit to him and how he thinks.

“It was probably the right time for him to go. Although there’s always pain in that; there’s pain for us to let him go because he’s such a positive member of the squad. The lads absolutely loved him, we loved him, worked with him a long time, trusted him.

“So a lot of pain in that departure – a lot of emotion from both sides. I just really respect him and I want his career, as long as he’s playing, to be really successful. But of course, we’ve got a job to do against him this weekend.

“Whenever you’re competing against each other, you’ll do everything, and he’ll be doing everything to hurt us and we’ll be doing everything to stop him.”

Wilson will return to St James’ Park as an opposition player for the first time since leaving Newcastle on Sunday afternoon and the stakes could not be higher.

West Ham head into the game in the relegation zone and know they only have two more matches to reel in the two point gap between themselves and 17th placed Tottenham Hotspur.

A win over Newcastle would temporarily lift the Hammers above Spurs and out of the drop zone but a draw or a defeat would leave them staring down the barrel of relegation ahead of Roberto De Zerbi’s side’s trip to Chelsea on Tuesday evening.

Wilson initially struggled to win over Nuno Espirito Santo’s trust at West Ham but his mentality, and his ability to score big goals in big moments, has won over his Portuguese boss.

The England international has six goals to his name this season, with huge late winning goals against Tottenham and Everton keeping West Ham in the survival fight.

Just last weekend, Wilson thought he had grabbed a vital point when his left footed volley deep into stoppage time levelled up the scores against Arsenal, only for VAR to rule that a foul in the build-up was grounds to disallow it.

Callum Wilson thought he had scored an equaliser for West Ham against Arsenal(Image: Getty Images)

Nonetheless, Wilson has fought back from adversity to become a player Nuno calls upon in decisive moments and Howe believes every manager would like to replicate Wilson’s mentality when it comes to their strikers.

“What was lost last week was the quality of his finish, I thought,” Howe added. “Of course because it wasn’t a goal, no-one necessarily talked about left foot, ball dropping, his technique… I’ve not seen him hit many balls like that off his left foot.

“I think if you were to build the profile of a striker and you wanted the mentality of that player to be as good as it could be, he would fit that profile. He’s got an unbelievably positive attitude to scoring goals.

“He’s had some really difficult moments in his career that he’s had the resilience to fight back [from], and he’s still fighting and he’s still playing and he’s still scoring.

“He will back himself to score in any moment, any time on the pitch. Even if he’s given 10 minutes at the end, he’ll back himself to score, so we need to be really alert to his qualities.

“I know the lads know him very well, so they will respect him immensely, our players, so whenever he’s on the pitch, we’re going to have to defend really well.”

Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV package

This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more

Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.

Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.