Newcastle United’s summer signing Yoane Wissa has been ruled out of action after sustaining a knee injury while on international duty with DR Congo. Wissa joined the Magpies from Brentford in a £55 million deal. He was expected to make his debut for the club this weekend.
However, coach Eddie Howe confirmed that the 29-year-old forward will miss Saturday’s Premier League clash against Wolverhampton Wanderers. And he did miss that narrow win against Wolves. Reportedly, he could also be sidelined for the club’s Champions League opener against Barcelona.
He will see a specialist to assess the severity of the problem. Only then, the length of his time on the bench can be determined. Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Howe said: “Unfortunately not, no, so he won’t make this game. I saw him for the first time yesterday.”
He added, “He’s feeling the effects of the injury he sustained just before he came off. We’re going to have to see how he is.” The boss praised Wissa’s resilience and career progress despite the untimely blow, saying, “He’s an established Premier League goalscorer which is very difficult to find.”
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He added, “He’s got really good qualities, had an outstanding few years, and a history of scoring goals. He’s been difficult to handle when we’ve played against him. I admire the journey he’s been on – it’s not been easy, but he’s always adjusted and made big steps. Hopefully, he can do that for us.”
The Magpies’ injury troubles do not end with Wissa. Fellow new signing Jacob Ramsey will also be out until after the next international break. He sustained an ankle injury during Newcastle’s last month’s goalless draw at Leeds United. Howe described his absence as ‘a big blow’. He noted the midfielder’s impact since arriving.
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Despite these setbacks, Howe remains positive ahead of a busy run of fixtures. Newcastle registered their first league win of the season against Wolves. With Champions League football returning next week, Howe admitted his squad faces a ‘storm of games’ in September. This requires squad depth.
One bright spot for the Magpies is the record signing Nick Woltemade who scored the only goal of the day. That goal helped Newcastle get their first win this season 1-0 against Wolves. The German striker joined from Stuttgart in a deal worth up to £69m. He impressed Howe in training and has now been impressive in the match.
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