Alexander Isak was finalising his club-record move at Newcastle United's training ground when Callum Wilson rocked up unannounced in the medical room to warmly welcome the Sweden international.
Some strikers can be unsettled by a new arrival playing in their position, but not Wilson, who loves competition and is not the type of character who would try and intimidate Isak regardless. Wilson, after all, has previously been in Isak's position, as a young centre forward joining a new club, and Newcastle's top scorer knows that the 22-year-old will help the team and, indeed, him personally when he recovers from a hamstring injury.
Although Howe was reluctant to pair Wilson and Chris Wood up front, the Newcastle boss sees the number nine and Isak playing together because they are very different players with 'unique strengths'. It is not hard to envisage Isak, for example, being used as an inside forward in a 4-3-3 or, alternatively, playing off Wilson as a second striker or even up top with the number nine if needs be.
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Howe used a 4-4-2 at Bournemouth, but the Newcastle boss was previously unsure if the Magpies were strong enough off the ball to play that system because it would leave the midfield and defence with huge spaces to defend. Changing formations mid-season would also feel bold given how Howe has utilised a 4-3-3 for the majority of his time at Newcastle and Wilson has solely been used as a lone figurehead ever since the 30-year-old joined the club two years ago. However, whatever the system, Wilson has vast experience of playing with another centre forward at both Bournemouth and Coventry City, and former Sky Blues boss Steven Pressley is well-placed to comment on the type of player he thrives alongside.
"Wilson needs a connector," Pressley told ChronicleLive. "Wilson is more a movement through striker, a movement on the last line striker, and if he plays alongside someone that can connect the game, he can be super effective."
That sounds like Isak, all right, who has played up top as a 'connector' with others, whether it is Alexander Sorloth at Real Sociedad, Vangelis Pavlidis at Willem II or Carlos Strandberg at AIK. Andreas Alm, who gave Isak his chance at the age of just 16, said that the intelligent Swede 'can connect with players from the first second' and 'develop the game in the direction that works for the team'. The former AIK boss even vowed that Wilson will be 'provided with goals'.
"Alexander connects with whoever he thinks is best for the team or however he thinks is best for the team," Alm told ChronicleLive.
"He will make a web. He will be the spider in the centre of combinations. He can link. He can drop into spaces - any space. He can go deep. He can be in front of the goal. That's one of his strengths."
Howe will already be well-aware of those qualities and Isak had always been Newcastle transfer committee's dream target. Although a deal previously appeared unlikely, because of Real Sociedad's demands, Wilson's hamstring injury slightly changed the profile of attacker Newcastle were looking at last month and the Magpies smashed their transfer record just a few days later to sign Isak.
Isak is a player who can grow with the club and the 22-year-old is not viewed as a direct replacement for Wilson in the short-term but, rather, someone who can complement the striker. Yann Kermorgant, who partnered Wilson up front at Bournemouth under Howe, can certainly see why his former manager has turned to Isak.
"If he bought this player, it's definitely because he saw something was missing," Kermorgant told ChronicleLive. "I think he's seen in Isak the player that can help Callum get more situations to score goals."
Among those excited by the prospect of the £78m pair playing together is Leon Clarke, Wilson's strike partner at Coventry, who predicted it would be 'frightening for opposition defences with those two running at you at such pace'. Clarke's words carry real weight when you consider the prolific partnership he had with Wilson.
The pair scored 40 goals together in their one and only campaign as starters and while Clarke liked to drop in, play between the lines and connect the game as a focal point, Wilson was the opposite as someone who preferred to run in behind and make the most of his rapid pace. Clarke may have been seven years older than Wilson - there is a similar age gap between the Newcastle number nine and Isak today - but they got on off the field and, tellingly, did not have to work hard at the partnership on it.
"As a team, you work on patterns of play in training and things like that," Clarke told ChronicleLive. "Training with each other every day, you get an idea of how you both want to play.
"It was very easy. It was just something that naturally clicked straight away. I knew that Callum wanted to go in behind more and I wanted to come to feet a little bit more than he did.
"There would be a little bit of friendly banter amongst us about how we were both doing or who was going to finish with the most goals. Callum was a confident person. He backed himself to do really well, which is something that can stand you in good stead for the future. Competition was healthy and he was someone that relished healthy competition."
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