Newcastle United defender Malick Thiaw believes there’s so much more to come from William Osula after he starred in their win over Brighton on Saturday.
Unsurprisingly, Newcastle United want to keep Osula this summer after he scored his third goal in four games as Eddie Howe’s side claimed a crucial victory at last.
Indeed, Osula starred for Newcastle against Brighton, and the hope is that he can develop even further next season after what has been a breakout campaign in difficult circumstances.
Thiaw, like an increasing number of onlookers, believes Newcastle haven’t seen anything yet.
Thiaw thinks Osula can get even better at Newcastle
After the game, Osula took to social media platform Instagram to caption a collage of images from the game “Gloria Deus [Glory to God].”
In response, Thiaw wrote: “Just getting started.”
It certainly does feel as if Osula is just getting started. The Dane remains a player with rough edges, which is arguably what makes him such a popular figure at times.
Still, they do need to be smoothed out if Osula is going to be taken seriously at a club who – they say at least – have grand ambitions to challenge towards the top of the footballing pyramid.
Howe has talked about how impressed he’s been with Osula’s development and there is no reason to believe it has peaked. Next season, he could feasibly get even better.
The club spent a lot of money in trying to replace Alexander Isak last summer, but the best solution to that problem might have been hiding in plain sight all along.
Clearly, it would be foolish to directly compare Osula to Isak. Still, for the very specific role of being a Newcastle striker in a Howe team – asked to stretch play and harry opposition defenders – he looks like the best option right now.
Already finding the back of the net on a semi-regular basis at the elite level, the future looks very promising indeed.
Hopefully, Thiaw is right.