Newcastle United are confident in striking a deal with Brentford for striker Yoane Wissa.
Yoane Wissa has held talks with manager Keith Andrews after returning to Brentford training.
Newcastle United are confident they can sign the DR Congo international, who is keen to join the club. Toon chiefs have already seen a £25million bid rejected earlier in the window.
Wissa bailed Brentford’s pre-season camp in Portugal a fortnight ago to try and force an exit. This received a mixed response from Newcastle supporters given current events involving Alexander Isak.
It is understood that Wissa to Tyneside appears likely, providing the Bees find a suitable replacement. Progress has been made in recent days as Newcastle search for a transfer breakthrough.
Yoane Wissa as Callum Wilson replacement
Liverpool fans have become excited about Wissa potentially joining the Magpies. Unfortunately for them, any deal for the 28-year-old would be viewed as Callum Wilson’s replacement.
Newcastle wanted a striker before the Isak saga unfolded and they would not allow him to leave without a suitable replacement. Wissa - valued closer to the £40million mark - scored 19 Premier League goals last season and can also play out wide.
Keith Andrews on Yoane Wissa
Brentford boss confirmed to the media that Wissa still wants to leave the club. He said: “Where it’s at is, in a nutshell, is that there's interest in Yoane. As everybody knows, he came back from the tour in Lisbon, which we felt was the right decision for Yoane. We have to respect his position and the fact that it can be stressful, emotional.
“I think that’s only natural for players. If you say anything different, you’re not living in the real world. But for us, it’s really simple. He’s a little bit behind in his fitness, he’s training very, very hard at the moment at the training ground and we look forward to welcoming him back into the group.
“Having the best players in the building would always be a bonus. I deal with the football side of things. I’m very comfortable with Yoane at the moment. (I have) phenomenal respect for him as an individual. As a person, I’m very understanding of the situation.”
Eddie Howe on transfers
Eddie Howe stressed Newcastle are trying to bolster their ranks before the Premier League starts. He said: "We are looking at the best players we can get. We are only looking at the best we can get, I see all situations open and available to us.
"I feel that is the only way we are going to get where we want to go, which is to maximise quality over quantity. That is the way it has always been, the way we work, we try to improve, we have done it pretty well to this point.
"It has been a challenging summer as you know. We have missed out on loads of different targets for different reasons. But we are still very competitive and we are still in there trying to bring good players to the club, that won't change until the window shuts."
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