Will Osula has played for three seasons and not scored a goal – Or the truth? | OneFootball

Will Osula is set to be the next Newcastle United signing.

The Sheffield United forward reported to be on Tyneside today (Monday 5 August) for his medical.

Having turned 21 just yesterday, a belated birthday present set to see Will Osula make the move for a widely reported £10m transfer fee, plus £5m potential add-ons in the future.

I understand that Newcastle United fans are far more interested in a bigger money set to be first-team choice signing, however, I have seen and heard some right nonsense talked about Will Osula.

It is to be expected that our rivals/enemies will take great delight in trying to ridicule any Newcastle United signings BUT not our own fans.

Amongst the comments I have seen, Newcastle fans talking about a striker who has played these past three seasons without scoring a goal, with others pointing out that Will Osula made 21 Premier League appearances last (2023/24) season for Sheffield United without managing a goal.

Like a lot of nonsense that is meant to mislead you, there is some truth in some of the above, but not a lot. The truth is certainly a lot more nuanced than what has been said by some.

First things first, obviously Newcastle United are buying raw talent, not the finished product. However, for those want to make out that Will Osula will be some sort of joke signing, that Eddie Howe and the recruitment team have brought in based on showing nothing on the pitch and only purchasing on a wing and a prayer, that is simply not true.

As well as no doubt having done their intensive homework on the basic characteristics of the attacking player Eddie Howe will have to work with, if/when Will Osula signs for Newcastle United, the young forward has shown promise AND scored goals in first-team football.

The 2020/21 season saw Will Osula become involved with the first-team squad at Sheffield United, though as a 17-year-old old he managed only one appearances on the bench as an unused sub in the Premier League.

As an 18-year-old, Will Osula then started to get some time on the pitch as a first-team player. Named on the bench eight times in Championship games, he was allowed five brief cameos as a sub, totalling just 69 minutes.

Having just turned 19, for the 2022/23 season the young forward was sent out to then League One Derby County to get more chance of first-team football. He started six times for Derby in all competitions and made 16 sub appearances, scoring five goals in total. Those five goals coming in 688 minutes of 2022/23 football in total, a goal each 137 minutes on average.

After promotion to the Premier League in May 2023, Sheffield United made the now 20-year-old forward a part of their first-team squad for the massive challenge of trying to survive in the top tier.

Fair to say that didn’t go too well.

Sheffield United in the 2023/24 Premier League season managed to…

Win the fewest matches – Three

Accumulate the fewest points – 16

Score the fewest goals – 35

Concede the most goals – 104

For any young player, especially a forward, with so little previous first-team football at any level, none at all in the top tier, to then make much of an impression playing for a struggling team that struggled to get out of their own half in many games and ended up defending most of these matches. Well, no surprise to hear that Will Osula wasn’t a standout Premier League player last season.

Yes, Will Osula did actually make 21 Premier League appearances last season, without scoring a goal, however, it is only fair to look at the WHOLE picture.

The then 20-year-old started nine of those PL matches and came off the bench in another 12.

However, in total he was on the pitch for only 781 Premier League minutes in total, which works out at the equivalent of less than nine full matches worth of minutes (9 x 90 = 810).

As I indicated above, exactly how much opportunity the likes of a 20-year-old Will Osula had to show what he could do in an attacking sense, must be seriously open to question. Playing more as just another defender along with all the rest of his teammates.

When you further drill down into the nine PL games Will Osula started, you find that the nine included home and away against Man City, then others against Liverpool, Villa and Brighton, the latter two were 5-0 hammerings for the Blades, so not exactly suggesting he was getting a lot of chance to show what he could do in an attacking sense.

Will Osula is a versatile attacking player and not one who plays as an out-and-out centre-forward all the time. Plus I’d love to know exactly how many scoring opportunities came his way last season in those less than nine matches worth of Premier League minutes? If it was more than a small handful I’d be amazed.

It is also only fair to say that in the cup competitions last season, Will Osula started two games and off the bench in another for Sheffield United, the 20 year old scoring three times in the 161 cup minutes he was on the pitch.

As mentioned earlier, Newcastle United are of course paying a reasonable sum (£10m plus £5m potential add-ons based on him hitting targets) for Will Osula which is based overwhelmingly on potential, rather than actual achievements shown on the pitch so far.

However, when you put together all of Will Osula’s career first-team appearances in league football and the cups (FA Cup and League Cup), you get the following:

Matches started: 17

Appearances as a sub: 34

Total minutes on pitch: 1,749

Goals: 8

Average minutes on pitch per goal: 218

I am not claiming that Will Osula is certain to succeed but I am absolutely sure that Eddie Howe and his people at Newcastle United have very solid reasons as to why they think this young player is worth giving a chance to.