It is hard to believe it is nearly December and Yoane Wissa still has not made his Newcastle United debut.
He has the honour of being the number nine and one of Newcastle United’s most expensive signings ever, yet fans have not even seen him kick a ball.
It remains unclear when they will be afforded that luxury, with Eddie Howe unable to confirm when Yoane Wissa will return from his knee injury.
It is a hugely frustrating situation, with PIF’s decision to spend £55million on Wissa looking more and more foolish with every game he misses.
However, that ignores the reality of the situation.
- Who is Yoane Wissa? Newcastle United’s £55m Alexander Isak replacement
Did Newcastle United make a mistake in paying £50m for Yoane Wissa?
No one is to blame for Yoane Wissa’s Newcastle United nightmare
Newcastle United’s decision to spend so much money on Wissa looks bad now, but it is through no fault of their own.
They were not to know that Wissa would pick up a knee injury that would rule him out for months. If anything, they were buying a player whose fitness record was almost impeccable during his time at Brentford.
And that is not to say Wissa is to blame either. He suffered the knee injury while representing DR Congo during the international break. It was a freak incident that could not have been avoided.
It does not help either party, but the Wissa situation is just a case of bad luck for all involved. The finger cannot be pointed at either the club or Wissa, no matter how long his recovery takes.
It is understandable that fans are frustrated. The hope was that Wissa would be thriving for Newcastle United by now. Instead, he is not even training with his teammates.
Unfortunately, this has been an unavoidable situation.
This is what Newcastle United fans can look forward to when Yoane Wissa FINALLY returns from injury…
The one thing Newcastle United could have done differently
The only way things could have been potentially different is if the Alexander Isak situation had been resolved quicker.
His £125million move to Liverpool did not go through until deadline day, which coincided with Newcastle striking a £55million deal for Wissa.
If Newcastle had more time to buy another striker, perhaps they would have got better value elsewhere on someone else. But the reasoning for buying Wissa was sound. He is a proven Premier League striker, and still feels perfectly suited to playing alongside or dovetailing with Nick Woltemade.
However, it is unclear when Eddie Howe will get the chance to do that.
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