Newcastle United striker Callum Wilson has agreed a one-year contract extension that will keep him at the club until 2025.
Wilson has been top scorer for the Magpies every season since joining from Bournemouth for around £20 million in 2020 and now has 40 goals in 86 appearances.
The 31-year-old, whose previous deal would have ended in 2024, hit a new top-flight career high last season when he found the net 18 times helping Newcastle to a fourth-place finish and qualify for the Champions League.
He now sits fifth in the club's all-time Premier League goalscorers chart, one behind Les Ferdinand who is on 41, and eight more goals will see him move into second place behind only Alan Shearer's record total of 260.
“I've been welcomed ever since I came through the door,” said Wilson in a statement on the club's website. “Now the club's going in a fantastic direction and on a journey, so it's nice to commit my future to being a part of that.
“We've got some great things to look forward to and I think being around here – the city, the fan base – is what players dream of, so I can't wait to be around for the next few years.
“When I first joined the club, I had ambitions to come back to the Premier League having been relegated with Bournemouth and over the first few interviews I mentioned Europe and I mentioned getting to 100 Premier League goals.
“They were ambitions of mine and they still are. I'm close to get into the '100 Club' and also becoming the second all-time Premier League scorer for Newcastle would be an amazing achievement, having looked up to Shearer for many years.”
Manager Eddie Howe, who also coached Wilson at Bournemouth, said: “We're very pleased because Callum has been an integral part of our success.
“He's an outstanding person, an outstanding footballer and I'm delighted he's going to be with us for longer.
“He's an incredibly motivated person and I've never seen Callum not motivated to score goals. I think that's a great thing for a striker.”
Newcastle, meanwhile, go into Saturday's game against Brentford at St James' Park on the back of a three-game losing streak.
Before the international break, Newcastle were well beaten in a 3-1 defeat at Brighton that came on the back of narrow losses against Manchester City and Liverpool.
Wilson has come off the bench in every game, scoring in the opening weekend demolition of Aston Villa while also grabbing the consolation goal at Brighton.
Callum's been really good around the group, he's been very professional and really supportive of his teammates,” Howe told a press conference on Friday.
“Underneath that I know he's been eager to play and eager to play not necessarily for himself, but for the team, he wants the team to do well.
“He's obviously got his own individual motivations, but you saw when he came on against Brighton he came on in a really good place, scored a really good goal for us and he's right in the frame.”
Howe has urged his players to rediscover the winning mojo in what has been a difficult start to the campaign which currently sees them sitting 14th in the table.
Brighton 3 Newcastle 1: Player ratings
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BRIGHTON PLAYER RATINGS: Bart Verbruggen - 6. Provided a crucial save to stop Almiron’s deflected effort. Displayed his confidence with the ball at his feet by calmly dribbling past Wilson when the striker tried to put him under pressure. His distribution was particularly impressive as he repeatedly picked out passes with ease. Reuters -
Joel Veltman - 6. Kept Gordon quiet in the first half and dealt well with the threat of Isak in the second. Reuters -
Jan Paul van Hecke - 5. Made a good recovery tackle to stop Isak in the second minute. Stood on his feet and stopped Isak again, on the hour. Got beaten too easily by Wilson in the build-up to the visitor's consolation goal. Getty -
Lewis Dunk - 7. Another exemplary performance from the Brighton captain. The tall defender put his body on the line several times and didn’t put a foot wrong in defence. Reuters -
Pervis Estupinan - 7. Had Almiron in his pocket for most of the game, though he wasn’t as adventurous as usual. Getty -
Pascal Gross - 7. Deployed at the base of midfield alongside Gilmour, the experienced Gross kept things simple and never strayed far from his position. Reuters -
Billy Gilmour - 8. Picked out Ferguson with an incisive pass early in the game. Had a huge hand in Brighton's opener as his shot was parried into the path of Ferguson to score. Did well to dispossess Guimaraes and find Ferguson in space to double the home side’s lead. Getty -
Solly March - 7. Had Targett chasing shadows for most of the game with his silky play, and combined well with Pedro. PA -
Joao Pedro - 6. Failed to keep an effort down when Mitoma found him with a layoff in the 28th minute. Had a very good chance to play Ferguson in with a backheel, but he failed to pull it. Reuters -
Kaoru Mitoma - 7. Denied by the foot of Pope just before Brighton's opener. Grabbed the assist for the Seagulls’ third goal after a run infield and a simple layoff to Ferguson. AFP -
Evan Ferguson - 10. Opened the scoring with a simple finish. Made it two with a well-taken shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area. Grabbed his first senior hat-trick in the 70th minute after Schar deflected his shot past Pope to make it 3-0. AFP -
SUBS: Mahmoud Dahoud (Gilmour, 77) - N/A. A compelling performance from Dahoud after coming on. He was a biting presence in midfield and was aggressive with his tackling. Getty -
Tariq Lamptey (Joao Pedro, 77) - N/A. An exciting cameo as his pace caused problems for the Magpies backline. Left Schar on the turf with his pace but failed to find a Brighton shirt with his cut back in the 83rd minute. Getty -
Adam Lallana (March, 81) - N/A. Looked confident on the ball and combined well with Lamptey after coming on. PA -
James Milner (Ferguson, 81) - N/A. Came on and kept things simple as he helped the home side see out the game. Getty -
Simon Adingra (Gross, 89) - N/A. Came on too late to make an impact. Getty -
NEWCASTLE PLAYER RATINGS: Nick Pope - 3. Forced into an awkward save when Targett deflected March’s effort in the 10th minute. Then a botched clearance and a poor punch back into the danger area led to the Brighton opener in the 27th minute. AFP -
Kieran Trippier - 5. Stood firm against the fleet-footed Mitoma on the right. Stopped Mitoma from making it four by deflecting Lamptey’s cross wide in the last minute of the game. Reuters -
Fabian Schar - 4. Unlucky to see Ferguson’s shot deflect off him and into the net to make it three for Brighton. Tried to grab a consolation with a header in the 86th minute, but Verbruggen was equal to his effort. AFP -
Dan Burn - 4. Utilised in at centre-back, Burn struggled to deal with the threat of Ferguson and Pedro. Got caught out of position for the first goal. PA -
Matt Targett - 4. A tough outing against the tricky March on the left side of defence. Excellent cutback to find Gordon in the 65th minute. AFP -
Sandro Tonali - 5. Tried to help conduct things in attack, but he was often left frustrated by Brighton's disciplined backline. Brilliant cutback to find Isak in the third minute, but the striker failed to get his effort on target. Getty -
Bruno Guimaraes - 4. A poor outing from the usually reliable Brazilian as Newcastle were second best in the midfield battle. Came out second best in most of his duels. Getty -
Joelinton - 4. Should have at least made Verbruggen work when he had a good chance in the 27th minute. Struggled to get going for most of the game and deservedly subbed off early in the second half. Reuters -
Miguel Almiron - 3. A below-par outing from the tricky winger. A spectator for most of the first half and subbed off early in the second half. AFP -
Anthony Gordon - 4. Frustrating performance from Gordon, who started on the right before switching to the left in the second half. Inexplicably hit an effort wide when he had a chance to reduce the deficit in the 65th minute. PA -
Alexander Isak - 5. The most threatening among Newcastle’s attackers, but his finishing left a lot to be desired. Had half a chance to open the scoring in the second minute, but his first touch let him down. Getty -
SUBS: Callum Wilson (Joelinton, 58) - 7. Tried to force the Brighton backline into making mistakes by pressing high. His hard work eventually paid off when he beat Van Hecke and finished past Verbruggen to grab a consolation goal. Reuters -
Elliot Anderson (Almiron, 58) - 5. Failed to make the desired impact. He was often left chasing shadows as Brighton dominated proceedings. Getty -
Sean Longstaff (Tonali, 58) - 6. Grabbed the assist for the visitor's consolation goal with a high ball over Brighton's backline. Reuters -
Harvey Barnes (Isak, 74) - N/A. Tried to make an impact after coming on but couldn’t influence the game. Reuters -
Jamaal Lascelles (Targett, 74) - N/A. Brought on to help shore up the defence and stop the Magpies from conceding more goals. Reuters
“We know and we understand the game that we're in, but I don't want to build it up any more than it is,” he said.
“It's a game we have to approach in the right way, it's a difficult game, a very dangerous opponent, they've got good skills and a good way of playing, got their obvious threats.
“But for us we've got to return to our highest level of performance and I think if we do then I back us to get the job done.
“The challenges aren't going to go away this year, all through preseason we had tough fixtures and tough fixtures at the start of the season.
“But with the competitions we're in there are no easy games, so we have to respond and we have to grow to the challenge.
