Nick Pope call & Newcastle United injury latest ahead of Everton clash
Newcastle United have a return date in mind for £55m summer signing Yoane Wissa.
Wissa suffered a posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) injury on international duty with DR Congo just a week after joining the Magpies for £55million from Brentford.
Three months have passed and the 29-year-old is yet to make his debut but the end, it seems, is nigh.
Newcastle United have Yoane Wissa return date in mind
Wissa has trained with his teammates for the first time this week and now has a return date in mind. However, head coach Eddie Howe refrained from revealing exact details.
“Yoane’s doing well,” Howe said. “He trained with us for the first time on Wednesday, when we came back from Marseille, so yeah, I was really, really pleased with how he looked.
“That was his first time competitively with the group. Let's see how he responds. Hopefully, he'll train again today and then we'll continue to build him up.
“Well, we've got one [a return date] in mind, but I think it's probably best to keep it to myself. I don't want to disappoint anybody. Of course, we want to involve him as soon as possible, but we want him to be able to perform.”
When could Yoane Wissa make his Newcastle United?
Wissa won’t be involved in Newcastle’s Premier League trip to Everton tomorrow, while the visit of Tottenham Hotspur to St James’ Park on Tuesday night is likely to come too soon.
The Magpies are set to assess Wissa’s fitness in the week leading up to the Tyne-Wear, where they face Burnley and Bayer Leverkusen before taking on Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
Wissa, who scored 19 Premier League goals last season, was signed to immediately step into the shoes of Alexander Isak following his £130m transfer to Liverpool, while the plan was for £69m club-record signing Nick Woltemade to be given time to settle.
However, Wissa’s absence has seen Woltemade thrust into action and the German has done well - scoring six times - Howe’s side overall have struggled, particularly in the Premier League.
Newcastle beat Manchester City last weekend but head into the Everton game sitting 14th in the Premier League table and without an away win since April.
“It will be huge for us,” Howe said on Wissa’s imminent return. “On many different levels. Firstly he's a goalscorer, you can't get enough of them at the moment.
“We've been a little bit reliant on Harvey in recent games. We need more goals from other sources and need to share the load. “Yoane will help with that but he's also got other qualities and will help the team. He'll bring added competition.”
Yoane Wissa’s involvement at AFCON in doubt
It could be that Wissa plays a handful of games before linking up with DR Congo for the African Cup of Nations, which gets underway on December 21 before the final takes place on January 18.
However, as it stands, there are no guarantees Wissa will go to the tournament. The DR Congo squad is due to be announced on December 11.
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