How’s the art collection? It is not the typical opening question to an interview with an England footballer but Callum Wilson is a man of depth and savvy. The answer, it turns out, is pretty good.
The Newcastle striker has works from Banksy, Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin. “Mr Doodle, I’ve got that one piece [by him] … maybe [it will be] Patrick Caulfield next,” he says. “I took a shine to collecting in terms of the investment side and then you start to get into it. ‘I’ll put that on the wall,’ you think.
“I’ve got a few players at Newcastle I’ve told about my collection and I’ve put them in touch with the guy I use. I’ve put Joe Willock in touch with him. It’s their personal thing and they wouldn’t really talk about what they invest.
“People buy their own pieces on the sly so I can’t get the same as them. That’s what it’s like. You think: ‘I want to get something that’s got a bit of value and means something, try and find the right pieces at the right time.’”
It is a neat extrapolation from the old goal-poacher’s line and Wilson is certainly back on the up when it comes to the day job having finished the season in explosive form. His return of 11 goals in 12 Premier League games for an eye-catching total of 18 helped to secure Newcastle’s place in the Champions League group stage – they last played there in 2002-03 – as well as earning him an England recall for the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta here on Friday and North Macedonia at Old Trafford on Monday.
What a season it has been for Newcastle, with Wilson pointing out “seven or eight of the players who started the games at the back end of it were also the ones who were fighting relegation in the previous two seasons”, which speaks volumes for the coaching of Eddie Howe. “It also shows where the club has got to with a few new good players around us,” Wilson says.
“Now it is only going to get better if we keep investing in the right way and become a top-four team more regularly.”
Wilson’s season has been the definition of a rollercoaster. He has fulfilled two boyhood dreams – playing at the World Cup and qualifying for the Champions League – and they had to feel like remote possibilities at the beginning of his career when he had loan spells from Coventry at Kettering and Tamworth in the Conference.
Or maybe not. The 31-year-old is on record as saying, even then, he felt it was his destiny to play at the very top. Wilson is known for his self-confidence, his ability to dig deeper and then even deeper. He needed to do so when his form dipped after the World Cup.
He had made an impact in Qatar during his substitute appearances in the group phase ties against Iran and Wales; now he found himself in and out of the Newcastle XI, struggling for goals and dropped from the England squad by Gareth Southgate for the opening Euro qualifiers in late March against Italy and Ukraine, when two wins added up to a flying start.
Wilson’s end-of-season hot streak ignited when he came off the bench to score in the home win over Manchester United in early April, even if, after getting two as a starter in the next game – a victory at West Ham – he was back as a substitute for the three matches after that.
“You’re still on the bench and you become frustrated,” he says. “You have conversations with the manager but the message was: ‘Keep going. Use that fire in the belly to elevate yourself and your performances.’
“You have England that is being taken away and your club position that is being taken away – it was a double whammy. It feels like everything around you is falling down. You have to have a good look at yourself.
“Sometimes, you have to delve back [into your past] – think of difficult times and then keep that fire, hunger and desire. I’ve always been laid back and used that when necessary. When I was younger, I did kick-boxing and you understand that in the ring you are a totally different person, you cannot do that on the streets. It has always been controlled and disciplined.”
Wilson has a year to run on his Newcastle contract. Hopefully, he says, his future “will be with Newcastle”. He is intent on making a contribution for England over the coming days but there is also a look back at the magical moment when the achievement of the domestic season hit home.
“Funnily enough it was at the Sam Fender concert [at St James’s Park last weekend],” he says. “I was on holiday, trying to switch off from football before the England camp with some family time. Then I went to the concert with my wife.
“There was a sea of black and white and before he came out, he played the Champions League song. Everyone was cheering and I was like: ‘This is absolutely real.’ I could see how much it meant to everybody. It was also surreal – hearing the anthem in the stadium without walking out to play.
“It is going to happen next season and I cannot wait to get started.”
