Newcastle star sent telling message to Eddie Howe with Liverpool goal celebration
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Newcastle United forward William Osula nearly departed St James' Park on deadline day - with Eddie Howe acknowledging matters could have unfolded quite differently for the young Dane.
Merely days before the transfer window closed, Osula's strike against Liverpool saw the striker gesture across his face in a "you can't see me" motion, reportedly directed towards the coaching staff, amid the uncertainty over Alexander Isak before his own departure from Newcastle.
Nevertheless, Howe and his backroom staff were desperate for Osula to remain, particularly for occasions like Wednesday evening's Carabao Cup clash where he netted twice for Newcastle in the win against Bradford.
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Following Eintracht Frankfurt's refusal to accept an obligation to purchase on deadline day, Howe immediately cancelled his departure and declared he was essential for squad depth.
Frankfurt was informed that a $5.8 million loan fee would apply for Osula, but the Bundesliga club claim that an obligation to buy clause of $23.3M caused the deal to collapse.
In the PSR-obsessed environment we currently inhabit, it would have been straightforward for Howe to approve any arrangement, yet he made the prudent footballing choice to keep the Denmark Under-21 international, and yesterday evening against Bradford demonstrated precisely why.
Newcastle entered the evening requiring a confidence boost and discovered one, primarily courtesy of Osula, who found the net once in each half to add some polish to the final score.
During the previous campaign, Howe didn't utilise Osula extensively in the opening months, but he has disclosed what has altered following candid discussions.
Osula is understood to have informed Howe of his ambitions, with his representatives previously exploring loan opportunities at both Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen.
William Osula of Newcastle United scores his team's second goal against Bradford City
He is very ambitious, and he wants to play as all players do.
"He is now justifying that with his training performances, we have done a lot of work with him and will continue to do that with him to be the very best player he can be."
When questioned whether Osula might now feature from the start against Arsenal, Howe responded: "He's done himself no harm