When he was signed on deadline day this past summer, Yoane Wissa was keen to repay the faith and devotion that we showed him after our long pursuit of his signature.
So when he was struck down with a sudden knee injury less than a week after signing, to say it was a slight convenience to all involved would be quite the understatement.
And as Wissa spent the next couple of months recovering, there were fears amongst us all that the forward would jet off to play in the African Cup of Nations without managing even a handful of games for us.
Thankfully, ahead of his impending debut for us, he looks to be sticking around on Tyneside just when we need a player of his quality most…
The DR Congo National Team has released their squad list for AFCON, and Yoane Wissa has not made the final cut.
Whilst it’s a big blow for DR Congo’s chances of winning the tournament in Morocco, it’s fantastic news for Eddie Howe and the rest of the Newcastle squad.
He’s already proven himself to be a popular and charismatic figure in the dressing room, and has only recently been back in full training, and in practice 11 vs 11 game over the weekend11 vs 11 game over the weekend.
With no international break until March, where DR Congo will play in the inter-confederation play-offs for the World Cup, we’re the 29-year-old’s main priority for now.
On the situation, Sky Sports’ Keith Downie reiterated that Wissa has “full focus on Newcastle as priority” as he faces a race against time to be fully fit and available for both our Champions League game against Bayer Leverkusen, and the derby against Sunderland.
Only Liverpool’s Mo Salah recorded more non-penalty contributions last season than the former Brentford man, and Howe will be very thankful that he has another dependable player to ease the goalscoring burden on Woltemade’s shoulders.
In his pre-match press conference ahead of Tuesday’s game against Spurs, the manager revealed “He participated in an 11v11 training game while we were at Everton. I think he’ll have another one at some stage this week. And yeah, we’ll see how close he is.
“He’s working back, he’s doing well, everything’s positive but he will be back involved when we think he’s able to contribute to the group and has a minimal chance of re-injury.
With such mammoth fixtures coming up, Wissa has the huge task ahead of him of delivering goals and assists right from the get-go, and whilst Howe has backed him to do so, he wants to manage the forward’s minute carefully during a heavily- congested schedule.
“Whenever he comes back, I’m sure from his perspective and of course from our perspective, that first goal will be important.
“But I don’t want to put too much pressure on him. He’s still a little bit away from that, he’s got some more work to do, hopefully, he comes through that and then we can see him back on the pitch.”
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