In recent weeks, Eddie Howe has called upon his entire Newcastle squad to contribute to the team’s overall goalscoring output. And for the most part, the players have listened, with Joelinton, Bruno Guimaraes, Dan Burn and Jacob Murphy each finding the back of the net in recent fixtures.
But we’re still not the free-scoring, high-pressing side that we know that we can be, and many of us anticipate that the long-awaited debut of Yoane Wissa will help us return to our old goalscoring habits sooner rather than later.
But just how soon it will be until Wissa’s debut is up in the air, as a new report hints that he could still be a number of weeks away from playing competitive minutes…
Return pushed back – but no injury setback
------------------------------------------
According to [The Mail’s](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-15265157/Newcastle-Confidential-Wissa-return-Botman-contract-Tonali.html) Craig Hope, Yoane Wissa will NOT be back for Sunday’s trip to Brentford, with ‘early December’ considered a realistic target for his anticipated introduction into Eddie Howe’s team.
Though the DR Congo star has been making good progress in regards to training on grass and the gradual building of his fitness, there’s no desire to rush him back too soon.
Instead, Hope hints that a behind-closed-doors friendly could be organised to help build the 29-year-old back up, with Howe stating a fortnight ago that a ‘six-week’ plan had been in his thoughts to give Wissa a pre-season style programme to get him back to his peak fitness levels.
There had been hopes weeks ago that Wissa would play before the upcoming November international break, but these obviously haven’t come to fruition, with our home clash with Man City on 22nd November also seeming a long shot.
AFCON twist
-----------
On a more positive note, as a token of his appreciation for the club showing him constant support through a draining summer saga and his recent injury ordeal, Wissa looks increasingly likely to stay on Tyneside for the upcoming African Cup of Nations.
Though Hope hints that we could come to a healthy compromise with the Congolese FA, who will be wanting to go further than their 4th place finish in 2023, repaying the £55m transfer fee and playing in the Champions League may be Wissa’s personal priority.
As for the 2026 World Cup, DR Congo find themselves in the second-place play-offs over the upcoming international break, and Wissa will have to watch from the sidelines hoping his country can emerge victorious over Cameroon then one of Nigeria and Gabon.
Payout on the way
-----------------
It was of course on international duty that Wissa picked up his knee injury that has ruled him out for months: typically bad luck for us that a player with an otherwise exceptional injury record finally gets injured just days after his £55m deadline day move.
Thankfully, we’re set for a significant compensation payout from FIFA because Wissa was injured on international duty and has passed the 28 day injury threshold to qualify for compensation.
The scheme will help us cover Wissa’s wages from October 7th up until now, but only for a maximum amount of £6.5m, in line with FIFA’s guidelines on the matter.