Newcastle United fans may soon finally get a chance to see Yoane Wissa in action.
On Monday, it was confirmed that Wissa will not play in this year’s Africa Cup of Nations, with DR Congo having left the striker out of their squad.
While clearly a blow to his country’s chances at the tournament in Morocco, it’s a major boost for Newcastle United and Eddie Howe.
Imagine the scenes if Yoane Wissa’s first game back sees him score the winner in the derby 😍
Wissa hasn’t been able to play for the club since joining from Brentford in September, following an injury sustained while playing for The Leopards shortly after his move.
His actual return date for Newcastle remains unclear at this stage, but the fact he won’t be heading off to a tournament later this month is clearly a boost.
Yoane Wissa set to make Newcastle United return “very soon”
Howe is keeping Wissa’s exact return date a secret because he doesn’t want to let people down should there be any further complications.
That feels wise. Putting an exact date on it feels risky, given the extent of his absence.
Still, there has been a promising update from Luke Edwards of The Daily Telegraph.
He took to social media platform X to write: “No Yoane Wissa in the Congo DR squad for the Africa Cup of Nations. Eddie Howe will be pleased about that. Good news for #nufc.
“I expect Wissa to be on the bench for a game very soon.”
How many goals do you think Yoane Wissa will actually score for Newcastle United this season?
Yoane Wissa must prove to PIF he can be part of Newcastle United’s exciting new era
The deal to sign Wissa from Brentford was reportedly met with some unease from PIF.
It’s believed that the Newcastle United owners weren’t fully comfortable about paying so much money (£50million rising to £55m) for a player approaching 30.
Howe pushed PIF to sign Wissa for Newcastle and, thus far, the move hasn’t worked out at all given he’s not yet made a single appearance for the Magpies.
Though expecting too much too soon from him feels unwise, Wissa is under pressure to perform when he does return, with the club having spent a lot of money on him.
This is a new era for Newcastle. There have been teething problems but the post-Alexander Isak era is showing signs of promise.
Nick Woltemade is doing his bit. Wissa must do the same.