Will Osula is statistically second best striker in Premier League this season

You know what they say, the stats don't lie. If that's true, then Newcastle United can boast to have the second most prolific striker in the Premier League this season.

William Osula has recently established himself as Newcastle's number one centre-forward ahead of the £124 million summer arrivals of Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa.

Eddie Howe has really struggled to find a forward line that works this season, but in the last couple of games, he's gone with a front three of Jacob Murphy, Will Osula and Joe Willock, which hasn't gone down well with fans when the teams were announced, but has produced decent results.

Fans and journalists have been demanding answers on why Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa aren't playing, but the simple truth is, Osula is scoring goals, so what message would it send if he were dropped? He's out there doing what is asked of him.

The 22-year-old has had to work hard for this recognition, and while he still looks a few steps away from being the finished article, he's looking better and better with each game.

John Anderson has been impressed with Will Osula

BBC Radio Newcastle have now hailed him as the second-best striker in the Premier League based on his minutes per goal ratio, which is bettered only by Erling Haaland.

Newcastle legend John Anderson wasn't about to dispute the stat and went on to hail the Dane's recent form.

"He's having a good time at the moment. He was electric on Saturday. He likes to be able to run, he likes green grass and Brighton with that high line left so much space in behind, and he's so, so quick. 

"He was unlucky, he's picked one up, and he's tried to do what he did against Manchester United, and he's hit it well enough, and it went a couple of feet wide of the post. He caused them all sorts of problems, particularly in that first half.

"You can see his confidence has grown game by game as well, and as a striker, if you're scoring goals, that's what you're on the pitch to do, and you can see game by game that confidence has grown in him."

We hope Will Osula stays at Newcastle

Obviously, Osula hasn't had a lot of minutes this season, fewer than 600 in his 21 appearances, but as mentioned in that clip, you can only score if you're on the pitch, so the former Sheffield United man is making the most of his chances.

If he could calm himself down in the final third and make better choices when it comes to shooting and passing with his final ball, he could prove to be a huge player for Newcastle.

Osula has been linked with a move away in the last two windows, but now we wonder if his recent performances and his goals have given the club pause for thought. Eddie Howe has spoken about his desire to keep Osula, but he's hardly going to come out and say he wants him sold, especially when he's in such good form, so only time will truly tell.

We hope that he sticks around. We've said since he arrived that there is a top-class player there if we can just knock some of his bad habits out of him and get him to focus.