Former Man Utd ace doubts Newcastle United star's Euro 2024 hopes

Newcastle United striker Callum Wilson has returned to fitness in fine style and is now aiming to force his way into the England squad for this summer’s Euro 2024 Finals in Germany.

The former Bournemouth frontman suffered a pectoral injury during the latter stages of a 3-2 win at Nottingham Forest in February that kept him out of the Magpies following eight fixtures. After returning as a substitute in the recent 2-0 defeat at Crystal Palace, Wilson went on to score in the recent 5-1 win against Sheffield United and Saturday’s 4-1 victory at Burnley to take his tally to ten goals for the season in all competitions.

Despite suffering calf and hamstring injuries earlier in the season and spending time as a backup to top goalscorer Alexander Isak, Wilson has the best goals per minute ratio of English strikers playing in the Premier League this season.

That has led many to suggest the Magpies star could find his way into the England squad for this summer’s tournament - but former Manchester United and West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Ben Foster has admitted he has some doubts about Wilson’s durability as the Three Lions look for a first success in a men’s senior tournament since 1966.

He told the Football Fill-In Podcast: “I think Callum Wilson has always kind of just been a little bit overlooked just because of his injury record. And the thing is for Newcastle, they kind of work his week so that he is ready for the game on Saturday. He probably has a bit of a down week really, sort of rests and recovers because he is very susceptible to injuries and I think that’s the problem when it comes to England.

“The players that aren’t going to be on the pitch on the Saturday afternoon or 3 o’clock kickoff or whenever it comes, you need the rest of that squad, the rest of them players to be at it, you need them every day to be at it in training to keep all the morale going, to keep the standards high, and I just worry that Callum Wilson won’t be able to do that for Gareth Southgate.”