Eddie Howe breaks silence as Newcastle United star Yoane Wissa ruled out of AFCON due to injury
Newcastle United forward Yoane Wissa has missed out on the DR Congo African Cup of Nations squad due to injury.
Yoane Wissa is set to make his Newcastle United debut very soon after a three-month injury absence.
The 29-year-old suffered a knee injury while away with DR Congo days after his £55million transfer that has kept him out of action. But Wissa has since returned to training at Newcastle and has taken part in two practice matches over the past week.
Although he is now in contention and available for selection, Newcastle are excersising caution regarding Wissa’s return given he hasn’t played any competitive club football since May. The former Brentford striker also didn’t play any pre-season matches before joining Newcastle.
Given his lengthy absence and lack of club football over the past six months, a decision was made between Wissa, Newcastle and DR Congo’s manager Sebastian Desabre that the best course of action would be for Wissa to remain on Tyneside to focus on getting back to full fitness.
DR Congo also has a crucial World Cup play-off match in March as they look to qualify for the competition for the first time since 1974. By then, it is hoped Wissa will be fully up and running for The Magpies and ready to make a big impact on the international stage once again.
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Eddie Howe addresses Yoane Wissa AFCON snub
Wissa would have missed up to seven matches for Newcastle had he been named in DR Congo’s AFCON squad, so his omission comes as a welcome boost to Eddie Howe’s side, who are currently short of striking options.
Wissa will miss DR Congo’s group matches against Benin, Senegal and Botswana before the turn of the year plus any potential knockout round matches in early 2026.
When asked about Wissa not being included in the DR Congo squad, Howe said: “I think with just the way the season has gone and how he’s been feeling, his priority at the moment was to make sure he concentrates solely on his fitness and he has no other distractions or pressures to be fit.
“We’re trying to make the right decisions for him on a daily basis. We’ve planned his comeback from a long time out, it’s been about trying to get him right in the quickest time possible, but then also when he is ready and able to take the load. We’re confident we can do that.
“He’s looked good. I think we’ve seen all the qualities we saw at Brentford – his movement is very good, he’s quick, he’s sharp, he’s got that low centre of gravity. I think already you can see he’ll build good relationships with the players around him.
“I’ve been really happy with what he’s done. Is he at 100 per cent his best physical condition? Probably not.
“But I think that will take some time, it’s similar with other players that come back from injury, you’ve seen Lewis Hall going down with cramp towards the end of games. Ideally with Lewis, we’d probably have had longer to build him up, but we don’t have that luxury.
“With so many games, we need the squad fit and ready, and hopefully Yoane will have a big part to play.”
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Yoane Wissa back this weekend?
Wissa trained on Friday ahead of Saturday’s Premier League match for Burnley where there is a chance he could be involved in the Newcastle matchday squad for the first time.
But when asked if Wissa would be in the squad, Howe said: “I don’t know. We have another training session and I’ll assess all the players.”