Alan Shearer said Newcastle United still need to sign a new striker this summer, even after Will Osula scored twice in Sunday’s 3-1 win over West Ham United.
The former Newcastle forward said the 21-year-old should not mask the need for recruitment in that position, despite Osula’s recent run of six goals in his last eight Premier League appearances and his sixth straight start up front. Shearer also praised the home side for ending the season at St James’ Park on a better note, after a spell he described as poor by recent standards.
“Woltemade got a goal. I am pleased for him. Osula got two. He looked really good, really promising, really energetic and took his goals well. He has done really well and done everything that has been asked of him of late,” Shearer said after the match. “But I don’t think Newcastle should be fooled in terms of the last three or four weeks what he has done and what happened today. They still need recruitment in that position.”
The warning landed two days after Eddie Howe said he was not looking to target a striker at the moment because Newcastle have healthy numbers in that area. Howe said the club still have work to do to keep scoring and to create the volume of chances they want, but argued the players are there and the challenge is to bring it together. He pointed to Yoane’s fitness struggles, Osula’s late-season growth, and early-season spells up front for Anthony and Nick as reasons he is not pressing for another signing yet.
“Certainly not at the moment because, in terms of striker, we’ve got healthy numbers in that position,” Howe said on Friday. “It’s been a challenge for us trying to find the right balance and trying to find a way to continually score goals and create the amount of chances that he want to.” He added: “I don’t think we’re quite there yet, we’ve got work to do in that area.”
The split in views comes as Osula’s form has changed the conversation around Newcastle’s attack. His two-goal finish against West Ham gave him six goals in eight Premier League appearances and came in a match Newcastle needed to end the campaign with more control. Shearer said the team looked far more positive, though he also took aim at West Ham’s defending, calling it dreadful and comparing it to an under-15 or under-16 amateur side at times.
For Newcastle, the question is no longer whether Osula can help. He clearly can. The issue is whether a late-season burst from a young forward is enough to settle a summer argument that now has two of the club’s most prominent voices on opposite sides.
