Newcastle United fans are suddenly not too far away from seeing Yoane Wissa make his debut.
There was huge excitement when the 29-year-old became one of Newcastle United’s most expensive signings ever on transfer deadline day, with Yoane Wissa arriving for £55million and being given the number nine shirt.
PIF did not want to spend so much on Yoane Wissa, but it was a case of needs must amid the Magpies’ desperation for another striker.
The hope was that he would have started to repay that investment by now, but a knee injury has derailed his start to life at Newcastle United. The DR Congo international is yet to play for his new club, with Wissa set to miss at least another two games before he could potentially make his first appearance under Eddie Howe.
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Yoane Wissa ‘more likely’ to make Newcastle United debut against Brentford than Athletic Club
That is according to the Daily Mail’s Craig Hope, who has said on his YouTube channel that Wissa is going to miss Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup followed by West Ham United in the Premier League.
There had been hope that Yoane Wissa would be fit in time to face the Hammers, but Hope insists that will not be the case despite the striker still being seen as ‘on track’ within the club.
“Yoane Wissa is still on track,” he said.
“Newcastle aren’t committing to what ‘on track’ means. It is my understanding that West Ham will come too soon for him this weekend.
“You’re probably looking at Bilbao, or more likely Brentford beyond that.
“But the swelling on Yoane Wissa’s knee needs to go down. The prognosis, the results of scans and specialists is that it’s okay, there’s no damage there, but the swelling has got to go down. We don’t know quite where that is yet, but Yoane Wissa won’t be playing tomorrow night [against Spurs].”
Newcastle United have coped better than expected without Yoane Wissa
The idea of signing Wissa to complement Nick Woltemade was that he would be a reliable and immediate source of goals given his Premier League experience. In turn, that would ease the pressure on Woltemade following his £69million arrival from Stuttgart.
Instead, Woltemade has been forced to learn on the job. The Wissa injury has actually put him under even more pressure, but he has coped incredibly well.
Woltemade has been outstanding for Newcastle, proving he has the capabilities to fill Alexander Isak’s shoes while making those around him better. His five goals so far have been excellent, proving what a unique player he is.
Will Osula has also impressed when called upon, which has been a massive boost for Howe. He wanted Osula to go out on loan in the summer, but is now so grateful that the 22-year-old remained on Tyneside.
Newcastle have coped admirably without Wissa, and now they might not be without him for much longer. While West Ham could come too soon, the Premier League clash with his former club Brentford could be when we finally see him make his long-awaited Toon debut.
He will be desperate to make up for lost time, which could make him even more dangerous in a black and white shirt.
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