£7m Champions League winger facing early AFCON exit as Newcastle United 'assess' January move

Yankuba Minteh's Gambia are on the verge of being eliminated from the African Cup of Nations after a 1-0 defeat to Guinea on Friday night.

Aguibou Camara's second-half strike condemned Gambia to a second successive defeat in the tournament, leaving them bottom of their group with zero points and zero goals scored. Minteh started as Gambia lost their AFCON opener 3-0 to holders Senegal but dropped to the bench for the second group stage match.

The 19-year-old was brought on as a second-half substitute with the score at 0-0 but wasn't able to help turn the game in his nation's favour in what was his third senior cap. The defeat means Gambia must now beat Cameroon in their final group stage match and rely on results elsewhere in order to have a chance of progressing to the last-16.

Minteh is yet to play for Newcastle having joined the club from Odense in June 2023 for £7million before being loaned out to Feyenoord for the 2023-24 season. The 19-year-old winger has since made 18 appearances for the Dutch champions, scoring four goals, including one in the Champions League last month.

Minteh is likely to return to Feyenoord following the tournament, with an early exit looking likely. Newcastle have discussed the potential of recalling the winger amid an injury crisis. But an agreement would have to be reached with Feyenoord in order to make that happen.

"There's no [recall] clause," Howe said. "That's a difficult situation for us. We'll assess all options regarding that one."