West Ham have announced the signing of experienced striker Callum Wilson, who joins the club as a free agent after his contract with Newcastle came to an end on June 30th.
Wilson has signed a one-year deal that reportedly includes a heavily incentive-based salary. He becomes West Ham’s fourth summer signing after Daniel Cummings, El Hadji Malick Diouf and Kyle Walker-Peters.
The centre-forward joins the Hammers after having spent the last five years up north at Newcastle, where he made 130 appearances, scoring 49 goals in all competitions.
Starting his career at his hometown club, Coventry City, Wilson is no stranger to finding the back of the net. For the Sky Blues, he scored 23 goals in 55 appearances, with most of those coming in his final season with the club.
In 2014, Wilson signed for AFC Bournemouth who at the time were in the Championship. He needed no introduction as he scored two goals on his debut and helped Bournemouth reach the Premier League in his first season.
The 33-year-old scored his first Premier League goals against the Hammers, when he scored a hat-trick to secure Bournemouth’s first-ever Premier League win. Unfortunately, he then ruptured his ACL and was ruled out for most of the season.
He then returned and continued to impress for Bournemouth and was subject to interest from West Ham in what seemed to be every transfer window when he was at the Cherries. However, in September 2020, Wilson completed a move to Newcastle for a reported fee of £20 million. Wilson again scored his first goal against West Ham.
His standout season was the 2022-23 season as he scored 18 Premier League goals in 31 appearances. However, the forward has struggled with injuries, which is why lots of West Ham fans seem to be sceptical about the move.
During his time at Newcastle, he missed 584 days and 99 games because of a range of injuries. In the 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, Wilson suffered multiple hamstring injuries. Most recently, he only played for a total of 458 minutes in all competitions last season due to a back injury.
Despite his injuries, West Ham fans will be glad that Wilson has joined them, because he has an exceptional goalscoring record against the Hammers. In the 16 times the striker has played West Ham, he has scored a total of 12 goals, making it the club he’s scored the most against in his career.
ExWHUEmployee reported that West Ham were working on a deal for Wilson, but an announcement wasn’t expected soon, as the club were considering waiting until the end of the transfer window to pursue other targets.
However, on Saturday afternoon, David Ornstein from the Athletic reported that West Ham had agreed a deal to sign the 33-year-old and that he had already completed his medical. Later that evening Wilson was announced by the club.
West Ham needed a striker due to their Premier League record goalscorer Michail Antonio departing the club as a free agent at the end of June. It was expected they would sign a younger striker due to Graham Potter saying he wants to bring the age of the squad down, but with Wilson being 33, it certainly doesn’t seem a long term fix for the Hammers well-known striker problem.
Despite that, if Wilson can stay consistently fit and score goals like he has against West Ham in the past, it could turn out to be a great move for everyone involved. He will also bring much needed competition for Niclas Füllkrug and young Callum Marshall.
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"I'm looking forward to the challenge"
After signing, Wilson commented on how excited he is and how much he’s looking forward to playing for West Ham.
“I’m excited to be joining a massive Football Club like West Ham. A Club that shares a similar passion to mine, hard work, dedication and also, I strive for success so I'm glad to be a part of it.
"I'm looking forward to the challenge. There's such talent within the squad. And obviously the gaffer’s come in now, he's making everybody a team - all working in the same direction to achieve the goal which is to be finishing as high as possible in the league and it's what the fans deserve, what the team deserve and it's what the squad quality deserves too.
“There was opportunities to go elsewhere, but I feel there’s a wrong that I need to make right with the West Ham fans especially.
“I’m looking forward to playing in front of them at the London Stadium.”
Head Coach Graham Potter also spoke about the 33-year-old joining the club.
“We are pleased to welcome Callum to West Ham United,” said Potter. “He is a proven, experienced Premier League striker, with a great work ethic and a fantastic goalscoring record. He also has excellent character and personality, which is such an important factor, and something that we place a big emphasis on with our player recruitment.
“We have built a really good spirit and environment around the squad, and Callum will only strengthen and enhance that. He will be a good influence, especially on our young attacking players, and brings leadership qualities.
“I know that Callum is determined to make a really positive contribution to West Ham United, and we are all looking forward to working with him."
