Newcastle United have already responded to questions on Will Osula’s future
Eddie Howe has no intention of selling promising striker Will Osula this summer.
Eddie Howe wants to keep Will Osula at Newcastle United amid renewed talk about his future.
The Dane almost left last summer on deadline day when a move to Eintracht Frankfurt broke down. It is understood that the German club changed the terms to a loan move at the final hurdle - forcing Newcastle to pull the plug.
Osula has since become a handy player for the Magpies and, as it stands, is ahead of Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa in the pecking order. He has scored seven goals in all competitions this season - including four in his last seven Premier League games.
‘I would keep him’ - Eddie Howe
A report earlier today, while claiming he hopes to stay on Tyneside, speculated on Osula’s future. But speaking to reporters 10 days ago, Howe already confirmed that he wants to keep the 22-year-old at the club.
“I would definitely like to keep him,” Howe said. “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.”
Eddie Howe on Will Osula potential
Howe also discussed Osula’s attributes and “rich potential” that has come to the fore in recent weeks. He added: "He has really rich potential. He's outstandingly quick, powerful, can score goals off both feet, he's good in the air. He has a real array of different scoring techniques he can use.
“He's really willing to learn and improve, I really love that about him. From day one here he's put a lot of work in. He really has.
“He's very committed to that process. In general, he has a really good attitude to football. He enjoys the game, he wants to play. He's a very positive guy.
“It's great to see him doing well. I've seen how hard he's had to work to get that success and now he's in the team and doing well, he has to make sure he sticks to those processes that have worked for him."