Culture vulture Callum Wilson intent on swooping for more England goals

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