Newcastle United’s plans to debut Yoane Wissa against Wolves went up in smoke late last week.
The £55million man was expected to start up front ahead of Nick Woltemade, but that changed when Eddie Howe spoke to the media on Friday morning.
He confirmed that Wissa is injured and was set to see a specialist regarding his knee problem. It has since been reported that Wissa’s injury is not serious, but it is serious enough to keep him on the sidelines for the next few weeks.
The 29-year-old will definitely miss Thursday night’s Champions League game against Barcelona, with Woltemade set to lead the line once again.
In truth, Newcastle United could be relying on the giant German for a while.
Yoane Wissa does his trademark celebration after joining Newcastle United on transfer deadline day.
Photo by Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images
Yoane Wissa to miss at least six more games
There were briefly fears that Wissa had suffered an ACL injury while away on international duty with DR Congo. That would have severely delayed his Newcastle United debut.
While that is not the case, the club do not expect to see their new number nine in action until the middle of October at the earliest.
According to the Athletic, Newcastle United do not expect Wissa to make his debut before the next international break.
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That would mean Wissa misses six more games, including two Champions League encounters.
If Wissa is fit to return immediately after the October international break, his Toon debut could come away to Brighton on 18th October.
Games Yoane Wissa is expected to miss Competition Date
Barcelona (home) Champions League 18th September
Bournemouth (away) Premier League 21st September
Bradford City (home) Carabao Cup 24th September
Arsenal (home) Premier League 28th September
Union Saint-Gilloise (away) Champions League 1st October
Nottingham Forest (home) Premier League 5th October
Will Osula gets another Newcastle United opportunity
With Wissa ruled out for at least six more games, there is a huge opportunity there for Will Osula to feature more.
He almost left the club on transfer deadline day, but now Newcastle will be glad they kept Osula.
Newcastle want to be patient with Woltemade, but he is going to have to start a lot in the coming weeks in the absence of Wissa. However, he is not going to be able to play every minute of every game.
As the 23-year-old gets up to speed with English football, there are going to be chances for Osula to feature. In truth, they are chances he probably did not expect to get after Woltemade and Wissa joined the club.
It is a huge opportunity for a player who desperately needs to start showing signs of progress over the next 12 months.