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Ciaran Kelly

Newcastle have summer plan that can unleash £20m signing after brutal Steve Bruce fitness truth

Regardless of how much Newcastle United do, or do not spend, the priority this summer is more firepower - and it is easy to see why.

The burden may have been shared around in his absence, but Callum Wilson remains the club's top scorer this season with just six goals despite only playing 17 games because of injury. If Newcastle are to progress, the Magpies are going to need more players who can hit double figures over the course of a campaign.

However, any new addition will be brought in to help Wilson rather than take his place and Howe believes the number nine can stay fit next season - even if the Newcastle boss has acknowledged that it will be a 'challenge' for both the 30-year-old and club staff to find a way of working that keeps him in 'prime physical condition'.

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Key to that will be a proper pre-season to ensure Wilson has a good load behind him. Wilson was among those who felt he was undercooked and 'not fit enough' going into the start of the new campaign last season under the previous management, but that certainly won't be the case this time around.

You suspect Wilson won't need to warn his team-mates about what is to come after Howe and his staff delivered a shock to the system with their intense sessions when they arrived last November. Rather than sending his players on laps around the pitch, Howe instead prefers to build up his players' fitness in pre-season with the ball and through big training games as there is, obviously, a difference between physical endurance and football-specific endurance.

Howe hates to lose even a pre-season friendly and, while the Ohio Cup may have been cancelled, some testing exhibition games have already been lined up to make sure that his side have played good opposition throughout so that they are ready for the opening Premier League game of the season on the weekend of August 6/7.

Wilson, who has only played in just over 55% of Newcastle's games since joining the club from Bournemouth in 2020, will certainly benefit from those plans. Wilson may have suffered two serious knee injuries at Bournemouth, but it is worth noting that the former England international only missed three league games in his final campaign with Howe and his staff at Bournemouth and the striker was suspended for two of those fixtures.

The coaching staff and head of performance Dan Hodges already know Wilson's body so well and know when to push and when to ease off. It may have surprised some onlookers that Wilson played 94 minutes against Arsenal on Monday night, in his first start since December, but the number nine impressed Howe with how sharp he was in training after so long out.

That 2-0 win was a reminder of just what Wilson can do to one of the best sides in the country as he unnerved Ben White and Gabriel with his pace and movement throughout the full 90 minutes. It said it all that not even a dislodged front tooth and a mouth full of blood could deter the stand-in skipper after a nasty collision in the first half and Wilson unsurprisingly thrived with improved service.

After several months out, and a mentally testing spell on the sidelines, the noticeably fresher Wilson looked like 'a new signing' as Howe previously hoped he would after countless hours of work with specialists, physios, sports scientists and fitness coaches in Newcastle, London and Dubai.

Another striker looks set to arrive this summer but, clearly, Wilson still has a huge part to play.

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