Brentford have confirmed why Yoane Wissa will miss their Premier League opener against Nottingham Forest amid links with a move to Newcastle United.
Wissa wants to join Newcastle United, who have already seen an offer rejected for the DR Congo international.
Newcastle view Wissa as a replacement for Callum Wilson rather than Alexander Isak. Wilson left St James’ Park upon the expiration of his contract earlier this summer and has since joined West Ham on a free transfer.
Wissa scored 19 Premier League goals last season and is keen to move to Newcastle, though reports suggest Brentford will only allow that to happen if and when they sign a replacement.
It’s a similar situation to the Isak saga at Newcastle, although Wissa’s potential arrival would not necessarily unlock the doors for the Sweden star to move to Liverpool.
It remains to be seen what happens, but Brentford manager Keith Andrews has provided an update.
Yoane Wissa celebrates after scoring a goal in a game between Nottingham Forest and Brentford.
Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Yoane Wissa won’t play for Brentford vs Nottingham Forest
The Bees begin their campaign away at Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon.
Andrews, who replaced long-serving boss Thomas Frank earlier this summer when the Dane joined Tottenham, has confirmed Wissa will not feature at the City Ground.
MORE NEWCASTLE STORIES
The Irishman has revealed that the forward is simply not in the right headspace to feature but did stress he was “clear” in wanting to keep him in west London.
“We’ve made a decision that he’s not [playing],” said Andrews at his pre-match press conference on Thursday (via The Standard).
“It’s been a very disruptive pre-season with the interest. The message is clear, I want him in the building, I want him to be part of the first-team squad. I see that moving forward but I’m very understanding of his situation. I have a good relationship with him and that will persist.
“But we have to focus on the players that are ready to perform on Sunday and Yoane isn’t in that space.”
What Eddie Howe has said about signing Callum Wilson’s replacement
Eddie Howe worked with Wilson at both Bournemouth and Newcastle, speaking positively about the striker at every turn despite consistent injury problems.
Speaking to BBC Sport, the Newcastle United manager revealed that the club have been actively looking to replace Wilson for a long time now.
“We have been looking to replace Callum for some time,” he said.
2024/25 Premier League statistics Yoane Wissa Callum Wilson
Games 35 18
Goals 19 0
Assists 4 0
Shots/90 2.6 0.3
Key passes/90 0.8 0.2
Yoane Wissa stats compared to Callum Wilson, data via WhoScored
“He was such a good servant for us and, of course, we have had issues with Alex’s situation this year so that position is definitely a cause for concern.”
To suggest that replacing Wilson is easy would be wrong. Though supporters didn’t see the best of him over the past two seasons, he leaves a big gap in the Newcastle United squad.
Wissa, however, looks like an upgrade on the 2024/25 version of Wilson.