Newcastle United is close to spending $13 million, plus up to $6 million in add-ons, on Sheffield United’s 21-year-old striker William Osula.
It is rare, if not entirely unprecedented, for an English club outside the Premier League to receive such a lofty fee for a player who is still relatively unproven at any level of senior soccer. Indeed, he has a goal record that does not inspire confidence. The Danish forward has scored just eight times in 52 career appearances.
For instance, similar-aged strikers like Fulham’s Jay Stansfield, who enjoyed goal-filled loan spells in both League One and the Championship, would be unlikely to command a transfer fee comparable to what is being touted for Osula.
So why is Newcastle, a club whose transfer business has been largely effective rather than flamboyant since their controversial October 2021 takeover, willing to pay a transfer sum that seems well over market value for Sheffield United’s young striker?
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There is a growing trend among Europe’s top clubs to take greater risks in the transfer market on young players they believe they can develop. Young players with desirable attributes, generally a combination of height, speed, and directness, are now viewed as projects to work with and coach rather than as unproven or unsuccessful at the elite level.
In the past, top clubs might have preferred young strikers who were already demonstrating an ability to perform and score goals in senior soccer. However, modern recruitment focuses more on acquiring players with the right blend of physical attributes and the potential to evolve into world-class talents with the appropriate coaching.
Osula stands 6ft 3in tall, has the speed to get in behind defenses, and possesses powerful ball-striking abilities, which, irrespective of his 21 Premier League game spell where he didn’t register a single goal, creates profile similarities between him and Newcastle’s first choice striker Alexander Isak, as well as many of the other best forwards in the world, including Erling Haaland, Dusan Vlahovic, and Alvaro Morata.
The Aarhus-born striker, whose portfolio of goals, assists, and contributions to wider play is admittedly still sparse, shows glimpses of a striker who could make it to the very top.
During Sheffield United’s 23/24 season Premier League encounter with Manchester City, Osula caused the champions problems with his tenacious ability to carry the ball up the field, outmuscling world-class midfielders and defenders in the process. In other phases of play, he demonstrated strong hold-up play and the ability to retain possession with his back to goal.
William Osula appears to have already developed his own signature move: an intricate step-over to lure defenders in before shifting the ball onto his other foot and powerfully striking past the opposition goalkeeper. The move feels slightly Marcus Rashford or Kylian Mbappe-esque in style and it has already proven effective on multiple occasions, albeit against lower-ranked teams in the FA Cup and the English Football Leagues.
The striker’s out-of-possession play is something that manager Eddie Howe will be excited about, too. Osula’s aggressive pressing, work rate, and defensive aerial dominance will stylistically meet the demands of how Howe wants his strikers to play at Newcastle. It is surely something that will have been observed during Newcastle’s identification and pursuit of the 21-year-old.
Whether Osula evolves into one of the Premier League’s best strikers remains to be seen.
Photo: IMAGO / Every Second Media
