Following the confirmation of his arrival at West Ham United, we take a photographic journey through Callum Wilson’s glittering career in football so far.
Born in Coventry, the now 33-year-old’s journey started at a local side called ‘Christ The King’, and after impressing and spending time with Coventry City’s academy in his youth, he joined the Sky Blues for a second time in his mid-teens.
That decision quickly reaped rewards, with Wilson progressing through the age groups to make his first-team debut in an EFL Cup defeat to Hartlepool in August 2009, before getting his first proper taste of senior football on loan at Kettering in the Conference Premier (now the National League) in 2010/11.
After scoring one goal in 17 appearances for the Poppies, he sustained an injury while back at Coventry, and then continued his development back out on loan in the fifth tier, this time at Tamworth during 2011/12, where he scored once in three games.
Aged 20, Wilson broke into the Coventry team in 2012/13, featuring 12 times in all competitions and scoring his first goal for the club in a 2-2 draw with Colchester United in March 2013. He went on to score 21 goals in 37 league appearances the following term, earning Coventry’s Player of the Year crown as well as a spot in the PFA’s League One Team of the Year.
Such form prompted a move to EFL Championship side AFC Bournemouth in July 2014, who he scored for twice on debut, in a 4-0 win over Huddersfield Town the following month.
International recognition followed, with Wilson making his England U21 debut in a narrow defeat to France in November 2014, before he celebrated promotion to the Premier League with the Cherries, having netted 23 times in 50 appearances in all competitions during 2014/15.
Wilson scored his first Premier League goals with a hat-trick against West Ham United in August 2015, and he remained a constant threat in front of goal until his departure from Bournemouth in September 2020, overall striking 41 times in 126 top-flight outings for the club, across five seasons.
Before his move to Newcastle United, little under five years ago, he was called up to the England senior team for the first time in November 2018, and made an instant impact by marking his first cap with a goal in a 3-0 win over the United States at Wembley in November 2018.
For the Magpies, he scored another debut goal, again against West Ham, just a few days after signing, and went on to win the club’s 2020/21 Player of the Season award after scoring 12 goals in just 26 Premier League games.
After a three-year absence, Wilson was named in England’s FIFA 2022 World Cup squad and went on to feature against Iran and Wales in the group stage, before he won his ninth and most recent cap in a 3-1 win over Scotland in September 2023, shortly after finishing the 2022/23 domestic season with 18 goals in 31 games.
More recently, he played four times in the UEFA Champions League with Newcastle during 2023/24, and helped the north-easterners avenge defeat in the 2023 EFL Cup final by lifting the trophy in 2024/25, coming off the bench in the showpiece victory over Liverpool.
Check out the images from our newest recruit’s life on the pitch so far in the gallery above.
