The 22-year-old will instead stay with Newcastle after the international break and continue within Eddie Howe’s squad. This comes after the forward made his first Premier League start for the club more than a year after arriving from Sheffield United in a £10million move.
According to Mail Online, Newcastle held discussions with German club Eintracht Frankfurt regarding a £30million permanent transfer for Osula that included a buy-back clause.
Yet the agreement collapsed, leaving Newcastle to retain the striker as depth behind recent arrivals Nick Woltemade, Wissa and Anthony Gordon.
Earlier that day, Newcastle had also struck terms with Premier League rivals Aston Villa for Osula, but UEFA financial regulations stopped the move from happening.
Newcastle had previously completed business with Aston Villa in the same window, paying £39million for Jacob Ramsey. The academy product left Villa Park for Tyneside, providing his boyhood side with pure-profit revenue to help balance Premier League and UEFA financial rules.
While sanctioning a deal for Osula with Villa would have worked positively for Newcastle financially and caused no PSR complications, UEFA’s stricter framework ultimately blocked the move.
Because Villa had sold Ramsey to Newcastle and were set to purchase Osula for a large fee, UEFA would have interpreted the transactions as a swap arrangement. That classification would have reduced the pure profit Villa claimed through Ramsey’s departure.
Villa are cautious after previously receiving a fine from UEFA and therefore opted to follow the regulations closely.
He said: “Aston Villa couldn’t finalise an agreement for William Osula, because UEFA accounting standards would have classed it as a ‘swap’ following Ramsey’s transfer to Newcastle.
“UEFA would have judged it a trade-off, not separate deals. That would have lowered the profit figure Villa achieved from the Ramsey sale.”
Eddie Howe had already suggested last week that Osula required consistent game time at this stage of his development, hinting at a likely exit.
“I believe anything is possible for Will,” Howe remarked. “I wouldn’t want to restrict how he’s viewed in any way.
“We assess him each day as we do with others. He’s developed hugely over the past year.
“When you’re around him constantly and so invested in his growth, you sometimes overlook the massive improvement he’s produced. His game has reached a stronger level.
“There’s still room for progress, as expected with someone so young. But he has quality, natural talent, and he finds goals.
“He has scored consistently in training, he’s powerful and fast. He has all the traits, and the point will arrive when he must play regularly to take the next step, and that time is probably close.”
Still, it appears Osula will not gain steady minutes at Newcastle this season, with Howe leaving open the door for a possible future departure.
“Playing often is something his career will eventually demand,” Howe explained. “But if that time is now or later, we’ll have to wait and see.”
