Callum Wilson: Striker set to join Newcastle from Bournemouth in £20m deal

Callum Wilson joined Bournemouth from Coventry for £3m in 2014

Newcastle United have had a £20m bid accepted for Bournemouth's England striker Callum Wilson.

Aston Villa have withdrawn a higher bid of £21m, with Wilson preferring a move to St James' Park.

The 28-year-old, who has won four England caps, made 184 appearances for the Cherries and scored 67 goals, having joined from Coventry in 2014.

Newcastle manager Steve Bruce wants to reunite Wilson with his former Cherries team-mate Ryan Fraser.

Scotland winger Fraser is close to completing a free transfer to St James' Park.

Wilson has one England goal to his name - scored on his debut against the United States in November 2018 - and won his most recent international cap in the 6-0 win over Bulgaria in Sofia in October 2019.

The striker is set to be the latest high-profile departure from Bournemouth following their relegation from the Premier League in July, with Nathan Ake moving to Manchester City in a £41m deal and goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale signed by Sheffield United for £18.5m.

Bournemouth remain very keen to bring their former winger Matt Ritchie back south from Newcastle, with finances the big hurdle to overcome.

Analysis

For Bournemouth, it was a case of where - rather than if - Callum Wilson would go.

After a couple of cheeky water-testing low bids from Newcastle and Aston Villa, £20m seems a fair price for the player, given his age - 29 in February - and the fact that last season wasn't a spectacular success for Wilson personally, albeit in a struggling team, with just nine goal involvements, compared with 23 during the previous Premier League campaign.

He'll certainly suit the way Newcastle like to play; he has a great engine when utilised as a lone striker, but does need to regain the confidence and form that brought him his England caps, having just lost his place in the international set-up.

Bournemouth could still realistically lose Joshua King, while David Brooks also has admirers, but with Nathan Ake, Aaron Ramsdale and now Wilson departing, in addition to the earlier exit of Ryan Fraser, the need for two or three quality reinforcements is clear.