Callum Wilson is closing in on a controversial move to West Ham and a revelation from his time at Newcastle United paints a worrying picture of what’s to come.
Hammers fans have long bemoaned the West Ham striker curse.
Very few of the 56 strikers signed by West Ham since the arrival of David Sullivan in 2010 have been success stories.
The ones who do well often don’t stick around long, kicking off to leave like Marko Arnautovic.
Meanwhile the rest either flop or endure persistent injuries.
Although neither were signed during Sullivan’s tenure there was Dean Ashton and Craig Bellamy. In more recent years there has been Andy Carroll and current Hammers striker Niclas Fullkrug.
Wilson move sparks West Ham fan fury
Newcastle United seem to get things right up front more often than not.
West Ham could certainly stand to learn a few things from the Magpies.
This summer Graham Potter was expected to oversee a changing of the guard up front.
Especially after releasing Danny Ings and sending Evan Ferguson back to Brighton.
The future of Michail Antonio is also in doubt after talks over extending his West Ham stay collapsed recently.
Potter has stated he wants to lower the age of West Ham’s squad.
So when Hammers News exclusively revealed West Ham expect to sign departing Newcastle striker Callum Wilson, it shocked many.
Callum Wilson is available as a free agent having left Newcastle last month after five years.
Hammers News understands there is now just one hurdle left to clear before Wilson joins the Hammers.
The move for Wilson, who turns 34 next season, has sparked an angry backlash from many West Ham fans.
Not just because Wilson scored more goals against the Hammers than any other team.
And not only because Wilson has agitated supporters with several digs about West Ham in the recent past.
But because of his abysmal injury record given the club’s seemingly never-ending search to find a striker who can stay fit.
Shocking Wilson revelation should put a stop West Ham move
A shocking Wilson revelation from Newcastle should stop his imminent West Ham move in its tracks.
Because the full extent of Wilson’s 15 injuries in five years at Newcastle is laid bare as his West Ham move looms.
West Ham supporters are well aware Wilson is prone to injury.
It is one of the main reasons the move is being lambasted by livid supporters.
Particularly given the ex England forward’s advancing years.
And especially as West Ham candidly acknowledged Wilson is injury-prone in the exclusive reveal to Hammers News earlier this week.
But few would probably appreciate just how bad and worrying Wilson’s injury record is.
The full jaw-dropping extent of Wilson’s Newcastle injury record
Over his five seasons at Newcastle, Wilson has endured 15 separate “injuries” ranging from persistent muscle strains to longer-term layoffs that repeatedly disrupted his momentum.
While Newcastle had the likes of Alexander Isak and others to mitigate those circumstances, West Ham’s only back-up is another ageing, injury-prone striker who lacks pace and mobility in Fullkrug.
Now with the Hammers ready to take the plunge, we look at the full breakdown of Wilson’s injury history and the shocking total time he spent on the sidelines and the number of games he missed.
But in the interest of fairness and balance, there is one major mitigating factor as to why West Ham still believe his proven Premier League pedigree outweighs the risk.
In five seasons at Newcastle, Wilson missed a staggering 114 matches through injury and illness.
That is the equivalent of exactly three 38-game Premier League seasons.
So for three of his five years at Newcastle, Wilson was unavailable through injury.
Most injuries were not short-term lay-offs either.
The man in line to be West Ham’s third summer signing missed a grand total of 677 days through injury during five years at Newcastle.
That is nearly two full calendar years in the treatment room.
Nine of his 15 injuries were hamstring related, two were calf, one was back and another was chest.
There are two bouts of illness on Wilson’s injury record, including coronavirus.
Are Hammers lured by Wilson’s goal ratio when fit?
No wonder West Ham are only willing to offer a modest basic salary contract with the incentives loaded around appearances.
That injury record would likely put most other Premier League clubs off.
Especially given how fiercely competitive the top flight is expected to be next season.
But the one single redeeming feature that is likely the driving force behind West Ham pushing ahead with the move is Wilson’s pedigree when fit.
Because in 130 matches for Newcastle, the Hammers target scored 49 goals – one every 2.5 matches.
That was roughly the same ratio Wilson had at Bournemouth where he notched 67 in 187 games – although 23 of those came in the Championship.
Whether Wilson can still cut it in the Premier League remains to be seen.
Wilson, Hammers News understands, is confident he will prove he can stay fit and score goals at the top level.
West Ham, much to the disdain of a large section of the support, look like they’re about to find out if he’s right.
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