The Cherries frontman is key to their Premier League development, so it’s no surprise they are rubbishing rumours of his exit.
Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe has told the Daily Echo that there is ‘no substance’ to the rumours linking striker Callum Wilson with a January move to Newcastle United.
The Championship-leading Magpies snared Cherries winger Matt Ritchie in the off-season as they put together a squad capable of returning to the Premier League, and The Chronicle claimed recently that Rafael Benitez was keen to return to the South Coast to add Wilson to an already talented strike force of Ayoze Perez, Aleksandar Mitrovic and the division’s top scorer, Dwight Gayle.
Wilson, who’s 20 goals at Championship level were key to Bournemouth earning promotion to the Premier League in 2015, is reported to fit Newcastle’s specifications for young, English talent but Howe says there is no chance his star striker will be leaving midway through the season.
“[The rumours have] got no relevance to us,” Howe told the Daily Echo. “Not to the football club or to Callum. There’s no substance to the story.
“The only time that will influence him is if he believes it or reads it himself. And I would encourage my players to just concentrate on their day-to-day job.”
Wilson impressed as Bournemouth threatened to shock Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday, winning and then converting a penalty in an impressive first half display that showed no lasting signs of the horrific knee injury he suffered early on in his Premier League journey.
Therefore, Benitez will have to look elsewhere to take the pressure of talismanic goalscorer Gayle, an aim that may well have been intensified after Perez and Mitrovic both struggled to impose themselves in Newcastle’s home defeat to struggling Blackburn on Saturday.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
