Newcastle United almost made a costly mistake in the summer by letting young striker Will Osula depart for Eintracht Frankfurt.
The Danish Under 21 international was close to sealing a permanent move away from the club before the Magpies pulled the plug at the 11th hour.
Reports suggested that Frankfurt switched from wanting a loan to a permanent move, but Newcastle weren’t happy with the terms on offer.
Whatever the truth, it worked out well for Newcastle as just a couple of days later, new signing Yoane Wissa picked up an injury.
Eddie Howe speaks about almost losing Will Osula on deadline day
On Tuesday morning, Eddie Howe spoke to the media (h/t The Chronicle) ahead of Wednesday’s clash with Tottenham Hotspur, shedding a bit more light on Will Osula’s situation and development.
“It was well documented that it was quite close that he could have left, in a variety of ways. A loan was always our preference because, in our view, we wanted Will to play.
“We wanted him to continue his development, which he did brilliantly last year, because he committed to a path of limited game time and big training time, with a lot of work with Graeme Jones. A lot of reviewing his performances and then putting work into action.
“The next step was to get him playing regularly, so that was the aim, and especially with us bringing two strikers in, the thought was he could continue that development best on the football pitch.
“Obviously, it didn’t happen, much to our relief, because Yoane picked up an injury and Will’s vitally important. We believe in his talents. He’s quick, he’s athletic, but he’s added through his attitude to training, a better know-how and nous.”
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Will Osula has repaid Eddie Howe’s faith this season
Will Osula has proved to be a most useful mammal so far this season, scoring against Liverpool and Bradford and picking up a couple of assists too.
His cameo on Saturday turned out to be pivotal as it was his shot that was parried into the path of Bruno Guimaraes to nab a 90th-minute winner against Fulham.
We’re glad he’s stuck around, and we definitely expect him to be starting on Wednesday night ahead of Nick Woltemade as Eddie Howe rings the changes.