Report suggests talks have taken place around new contract for £20m Newcastle United absentee

We all saw this coming, didn't we? Despite having played just an hour of football this season, Callum Wilson is reportedly in talks over a contract extension at Newcastle United.

Eddie Howe's basement is getting new locks fitted to keep Callum Wilson around.

In all honesty, I've got mixed feelings about the whole thing, and the only way I can know for sure how I feel about this is by assessing what happens between now and the end of the season.

Callum Wilson's prowess in front of goal is almost as impressive as his injury record, and there's no doubt that when he's fit, he's fantastic, but that word "when" is doing a lot of heavy lifting there.

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Hanging on to Callum Wilson only makes sense if he's fit

Newcastle's squad is paper-thin as it is, and there will be more first-team departures in the summer with several contracts expiring. One of which is set to be that of Callum Wilson, but The Chronicle are now saying that talks have begun over a new deal for the former England striker.

Now that Wilson is back from injury, if he can stay available for the rest of the season with no further niggles that keep him out of the squad, then I'll concede he may be worth keeping around.

However, just one more missed game, and we have to seriously look at letting him go. I love Callum Wilson. He's an amazing striker, and he's done brilliant things for us, but if he's not available, there's literally no point in keeping him around, unfortunately.

Whatever happens with Wilson, Newcastle need a striker this summer

There's a long way to go this season, though, and all of this extra recovery time and the magic of James Bunce and his team may have done him the world of good, in which case, I will eat my words and celebrate his new contract.

However, regardless of whether we keep Wilson, we absolutely need to buy a striker in the summer. We said this last year, and we got Will Osula, who has barely played more minutes than Wilson despite being available all season.

We need a fully fit, recognised striker, not one with potential, but one with experience. One that will light a fire under Alexander Isak and push him to the next level to keep his place in the side. Come on down, Jonathan David.