Newcastle United are hoping to have Yoane Wissa available after next month’s international break.
Indeed, Wissa could play for Newcastle United in October and that will no doubt be a huge boost for Eddie Howe.
Howe was desperate for Newcastle to sign Wissa, which perhaps explains why the club spent so much money to sign him.
Wissa could end up costing Newcastle around £55million, which feels like a lot of money for a player approaching 30 and one who had at most two years left on his contract at his previous club.
Still, the former Brentford star does boast a brilliant track record in the Premier League. Across 137 appearances, he’s scored 45 goals.
Firepower has been an issue this season without him and his long-awaited debut for the club cannot come soon enough.
Such is his importance to the cause, it seems there’s a slight worry behind the scenes about him.
Newcastle worried about Yoane Wissa being called up for DR Congo
The Newcastle United manager has said he expects Wissa to return after the international break in October.
That doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be fit for the trip to Brighton on Saturday, 18 October, but the hope is that he won’t be ruled out for much longer than that.
DR Congo face World Cup qualifiers against Togo and Sudan in the second week of October.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the idea that they could call Wissa up for those games is causing some consternation on Tyneside.
Eddie Howe speaks on Yoane Wissa playing for DR Congo
For those who have seen the incident that caused Wissa’s injury, there’s little doubt it was nothing short of a freak accident.
Chasing the ball, he slips on the pitch and collapses in a heap at speed onto his knee. There’s not much anyone can do about that.
International teams should of course be respected, and the fact DR Congo are reasonably close to a first World Cup qualification since 1974 (as Zaïre) has to be taken into account.
However, it would surely be better if caution is applied with Wissa even if there is a chance he could be called up. In that event, Newcastle would be reasonably powerless to stop him from going.
Speaking after Newcastle’s defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League last week, Howe revealed he was not expecting Wissa to be called up for his country next month.
“I don’t expect him to go away because I don’t think he’ll be fit enough to do that by that point,” he said.
Wissa has 27 caps for his country, scoring five goals.
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