Callum Wilson looks forward to noise of brighter tomorrow at Newcastle

Callum Wilson surveys the small group of reporters in front of him at Newcastle United’s training ground, noting the way their chairs are all spaced two metres apart and indicates he cannot wait for the “new normal” to end. More specifically, Steve Bruce’s new £20m signing from Bournemouth wants to feel the electric charge occasioned by scoring a goal in front of a once customary 52,000 full house at St James’ Park.

For the moment, the stadium must remain empty, with the atmosphere as antiseptic as the contents of the hand sanitiser bottles placed strategically around the indoor barn where the striker is addressing his new public. Wilson, though, cannot wait to feel the noise of a brighter tomorrow.

“From my experience playing there, St James’ Park is one of the loudest grounds,” he says. “The noise always stood out in my head. I’ve stood on the pitch thinking: ‘Blimey this is a real stadium.’ It stuck in my mind. As an outsider you feel the passion when Newcastle score. You see the fans just going crazy and it fills you with energy.

Related: Premier League 2020-21 preview No 14: Newcastle United

“I’ve thought: ‘That could be me scoring that goal’ and how it would fill me with excitement and confidence. As a footballer you want to feed off that energy; that’s what it’s all about. I always felt Newcastle’s a sleeping giant – it’s such a massive club, with massive potential. The fans were definitely a big part of my decision to come here.”

The 28-year-old is briefly interrupted by a strange whirring noise above the barn’s roof. It turns out to be the sound of Mike Ashley’s helicopter landing on an adjacent practice pitch as Newcastle’s owner makes a rare visit to Tyneside before taking Bruce and his squad out for dinner.

By the evening Newcastle will have released an incendiary statement detailing Ashley’s anger at the Premier League for blocking this summer’s failed Saudi Arabian-led takeover of the club but Wilson remains undeterred by the retail tycoon’s enduring presence as a rather reluctant owner.

“The owner is investing in the squad,” he says, pointing out that Ashley has also sanctioned the signing of his former Bournemouth teammate Ryan Fraser, a Scotland winger, and the £15m former Norwich left-back Jamal Lewis. “There’s real quality here – players like Allan Saint-Maximin, Miguel Almirón, Jonjo Shelvey and Isaac Hayden. There’s some great players here. If we gel as a team, this club is going places.”

Wilson felt in need of a new direction after the disappointment of Bournemouth’s relegation at the end of a campaign in which he scored only eight goals. “I don’t want to be associated with that total; I didn’t have a great season,” he admits. “Coming here is about getting back to my best. I feel I’ll get opportunities to score and that Newcastle’s the right fit.

“Historically strikers have done well at this club and I want to be part of that. Look at the names they’ve had here in the past, Les Ferdinand, Alan Shearer. If you score goals, if you work hard, the fans will be on your side.”

There are other, sometimes high-profile, forwards who have struggled in an atmosphere that can turn unforgiving but Wilson is undeterred. “Newcastle fans obviously demand the highest standards from their strikers but I thrive on that,” he says. “I’m looking forward to giving my all for this club. When the fans get back in, this environment is only going to help me, it’s going to give me drive, determination and even more motivation.”

The No 9 shirt is prized on Gallowgate but, with Wilson allocated No 13, it remains on the back of the £40m Joelinton and the newcomer made it clear he did not expect to snatch it from a Brazilian likely to operate on his left. “I don’t want to take shirts off people; I’m quite mature about things like that,” he says. “If it comes available one day I’ll snap it up but the badge on the front of the shirt is more important than the number on the back.”

The figures that obsess Wilson are contained in the “goals for” column. “I have 41 in the Premier League ,” he says. “I feel in the best shape I’ve ever felt, my injuries are behind me. So the 100 goals club is massive. The massive carrot is to get there in my four years here. That would be something to treasure for life.”