Newcastle pushing to keep Will Osula after Everton, Palace and Leverkusen interest

Will Osula almost joined Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt last summer before Newcastle United pulled the plug on the deal at the last minute.

It proved to be a shrewd move as the Dane was the closest thing Newcastle had to a striker for the opening few games of the season.

In January, talks over a move to Germany flared up again, and there were also links with Aston Villa, but an injury prevented the 22-year-old from leaving the club.

Lately, Osula has been Eddie Howe's primary choice to lead the line after a stunning goal against Manchester United. Since then, Osula has scored three goals in five appearances and is keeping Yoane Wissa and Nick Woltemade out of the side.

It had been questioned whether this has cemented his place in the squad beyond this season or whether he's being put in the shop window to drive up his price.

Will Osula is going nowhere

Craig Hope has revealed in his latest Newcastle Confidential column for the Daily Mail that Osula is set to remain on Tyneside beyond this season.

Hope claims that insiders see replacing Osula as a futile task, as they'd be looking for another player with a very similar profile, so it doesn't make sense to let him leave only to find another identical style player. Even though Hope claims Osula could fetch around £40 million, which is an impressive increase from the £15m we paid for him.

Newcastle's coaches have been impressed with Osula's growth this season, and while there's concern that interested clubs could be throwing numbers at the forward that could prompt his representatives to push for a pay rise at Newcastle, there are currently no plans to offer him a new deal.

Surely Osula has earned a little pay rise

Osula still has three years to run on his current contract, so we understand the club's position of not wanting to renegotiate his terms, but if he's really improved so much, and he's our main source of goals lately, hasn't he earned that recognition?

We're not saying he needs to be bumped up to one of our highest earners or anything, but after being on the periphery for so long with no real indication where his future lies, to keeping our £124 million strike force out of the side, surely he's earned something.

We suppose the fact that he's being kept on might be seen as a big enough gesture by the club. We'll have to wait and see how it all pans out.