£7m Champions League winger has AFCON nightmare as Newcastle United 'assess' January move

Yankuba Minteh started his first competitive match for Gambia as they opened the African Cup of Nations with a 3-0 defeat to Senegal on Monday.

Minteh joined Newcastle 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.

It has been a difficult week for Minteh and his Gambia team-mates after their plane travelling to the Ivory Coast for the tournament was forced to make an emergency landing shortly after takeoff due to a loss of cabin pressure and oxygen.

Gambia boss Tom Saintfiet said: “Luckily for us, the pilot recognised the problem and after nine minutes in the air turned around to land again. We all fell asleep.”

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe was initially unaware of what had happened when asked about the situation during a press conference. "I was unaware of that story but, obviously, we wish him well," he replied.

The team eventually arrived in Yamoussoukro safely but their fortunes wouldn't improve on the pitch as the AFCON tournament got underway. Gambia were beaten convincingly by holders Senegal with Pape Gueye opening the scoring after just four minutes.

Cardiff City midfielder Ebou Adams was shown a straight red card on the stroke of half-time, reducing Gambia to 10 men. The second half saw Senegal stroll to victory with a brace from Lamine Camara securing a 3-0 win.

Minteh started the match but was withdrawn in the 83rd minute, shortly before Camara's second.

It was only the teenager's second competitive appearance for his country after coming off the bench and scoring to help secure AFCON qualification against Congo in September. The 3-0 defeat to Senegal leaves Gambia sitting bottom of their group. Gambia's final group match is on January 23, with the tournament running until February 11.

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

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