Newcastle United striker, Callum Wilson has admitted that he nearly made a move to Aston Villa instead of the Magpies.
Back in 2020, Wilson joined Newcastle but a move to Aston Villa may have been on the cards.
Following Bournemouth’s relegation from the Premier League, the star striker was on the move. He joined the Magpies, while Villa signed Ollie Watkins instead.
It is safe to say it worked out well for both sides with the latter fit and firing under Unai Emery now.
What has Callum Wilson said?
There were rumours suggesting that the Villains and Dean Smith held an interest in the Cherries’ striker but nothing arose.
Discussing the move on his podcast, the Footballers Football Podcast he admitted Villa were an option.
On that, he said: “I had a decision to make. When I joined Newcastle there was Aston Villa, there was Newcastle.
“Aston Villa was the other club that was interested at the time. They had just been taken over. They were starting to fly and things were going well there.”
At the time, under Mike Ashley, Newcastle were struggling and the Englishman was a shining light in their squad.
Ironically, Villa beat them after the move: “We played against them and lost and I’m thinking ‘everyone was like that could have been you, why didn’t you join us?'”
At the time it might have felt like he made a mistake but in hindsight, it worked out well for all parties in the end.
On that point, he added: “I get to play in the Champions League for the first time with Newcastle. We play against Villa and we beat them 5-1 or something like that, so it’s crazy how football works.”
The Villains ended up with Watkins and Newcastle now have Wilson and Isak in their frontline. It could be argued everyone is happy.
