Alan Shearer reacts to what Gary Lineker has just told him about Callum Wilson exit at West Ham
Callum Wilson’s future at West Ham has been made even more complicated after his injury-time winner against Tottenham on Saturday.
West Ham beat Spurs 2-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to claim a vital three points in their push for Premier League survival.
Nuno Espirito Santo has been under increasing pressure at the London Stadium, and Wilson may have just saved his manager’s job.
However, the striker’s prospects at E20 have been hampered by the arrivals of Taty Castellanos and Pablo, with game time now looking unlikely.
Transfer speculation around Wilson has left Alan Shearer, in particular, very baffled.
Callum Wilson contract termination would be bizarre
West Ham are considering terminating Wilson’s contract after the Englishman held crunch talks with Nuno.
The Hammers boss told the forward that he cannot guarantee him first-team football due to West Ham‘s new signings, with the likes of Celtic and Burnley monitoring the situation.
Castellanos missed a big first-half chance against Spurs, which has thrown further confusion over why the Irons would even think to terminate Wilson’s contract – at least in Shearer’s mind.
While speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Gary Lineker brought up Wilson’s situation with the Hammers, as Shearer weighed in with his own opinion on the matter.
Lineker said: “Wilson, who scored, they [West Ham] are on about terminating his contract, but it’s a vital goal for them and gives them some sort of hope.”
Shearer replied: “It’s a really strange situation with Wilson. They signed two strikers worth nearly £50 million, in a huge gamble to keep them in the league.
“I listen to Nuno say it might be time for him [Wilson] to find somewhere else. But then you turn to him in the last minute, and he gets you three huge points, it’s really strange”
When looking at Wilson’s performances under the microscope, the readings suggest that Nuno may need to have a second conversation with Wilson.
Wilson’s West Ham exploits are quite remarkable
West Ham signed Wilson on a low-risk free deal in the summer after his contract with Newcastle United expired.
There were always doubts over whether the veteran forward could be useful for the Hammers, but the 33-year-old has quite literally done his best with the lack of game time he’s been given.
| Games (starts) | 15 (8) |
| Minutes | 811 |
| Goals | 5 |
| Goals per 90 | 0.55 |
But Nuno’s preference for playing a one-striker formation is the deal breaker in this case. Unless the West Ham boss changes his ways, Wilson will most likely pick up fewer minutes than he deserves in the second half of the season.
The likelihood of Nuno changing his philosophy for one player is low, and the best thing for all parties is if an agreement is reached as soon as possible.
Stay up to date this winter with our West Ham transfer tracker. Click to see every done deal at the London Stadium, plus expert reaction from our team of writers.