Newcastle summer signing Callum Wilson has made an electric start to his time in the North East, netting four times in his first four Premier League appearances for the Magpies.
In fact, he is the first player to do so since club legend Les Ferdinand in the 1995/96 season.
Now, without getting ahead of ourselves, we’ve taken a look at what Wilson has to do next to match Ferdinand’s achievements.
First off, Ferdinand managed 25 Premier League goals in his first season at St James’ Park and four more in cup competitions. He also grabbed two runners-up medals in the Premier League while at Newcastle, scoring 50 times in just 84 appearances.
And if his numbers at the club were not impressive enough, Ferdinand managed a total of 149 Premier League goals in his career, and is regarded as one of the nation’s best.
As for Wilson, he currently has 45 goals to his name in the top flight, and at the age of 28 it may be a stretch to match Ferdinand’s career numbers.
Ferdinand had also managed 20-plus goals in the top flight twice for Queens Park Rangers before he joined Newcastle. In fact, his lowest return in the Premier League before he joined Tottenham in 1997 was 16 goals.
Wilson has played five seasons in the Premier League and his best tally so far came in 2018/19 when he managed 14 goals. This remains the only time the England striker has hit double digits in the division.
So the odds may be against him, but until now Wilson has played his football for a side struggling to maintain Premier League status. Now he plays for one of the country’s biggest sides that, after some good business in the summer, will be striving for a spot in European competition this season.
Wilson is up for the challenge, and is almost halfway to double digits already.
The way he’s started at Newcastle, he certainly has a chance of emulating the great striker with a phenomenal season in the north-east.
Ferdinand spent just two years at St James’ Park, but was granted a standing ovation when he returned with Tottenham the following season.
It may be early days, but the stats don’t lie, and Magpies fans would absolutely love it if Wilson was well on his way to becoming a club legend.
There’s a long way to go, but four in four is a great place to start.
