'Really great' - Yoane Wissa handed major boost as Newcastle United injury return looms
Newcastle United forward Yoane Wissa is pushing to return to action following the November international break.
Yoane Wissa is closing in on his Newcastle United debut after 10 weeks on the sidelines with a knee injury.
The 29-year-old suffered a PCL injury while away with the DR Congo national team just days after joining Newcastle from Brentford for £55million. He is yet to make his debut for The Magpies and has been training individually in recent weeks but is now ready to push on.
Discussing Wissa’s recovery and return to fitness, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe said heading into the break: “Yoane's working well. He's on the grass, he's building his fitness. I think the knee's feeling good, no problems with that.
“It's more a case of looking at his fitness, sharpness, all the things that he's going to need to put together. He's in a good place injury-wise now to really kick on and push his body.
“But we're going to need to give him time to get fit and robust enough. And in a position where he can give his best version of himself for the team. So, how long that takes is slightly unclear. But yeah, I'm sure it'll be worth the wait.”
Newcastle will also exercise caution when it comes to Wissa’s return and will likely ease him into action rather than throw him straight into the starting line-up.
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Yoane Wissa handed major boost ahead of NUFC return
While Wissa didn’t join up with the DR Congo squad during the international break due to his injury, he watched from home as they progressed to the World Cup inter-confederation play-offs following a last-gasp victory over Cameroon last week and a penalty shoot-out win over Nigeria on Sunday.
DR Congo captain and former Newcastle defender Chancel Mbemba was the hero on both occasions as he scored a stoppage time winner against Cameroon before scoring the winning penalty in the shoot-out against Nigeria.
Wissa took to Instagram to share a video of Mbemba’s penalty along with the caption (translated from French): “A really great group. I love you guys so much!”
DR Congo will take part in the play-offs in Mexico in March as they look to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1974 (as Zaire).
The country’s progress comes after controversy in the build-up to the CAF play-off matches. According to Sports News Africa, the $1million bonus would be triggered simply for reaching the inter-confederation play-offs.
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Last week, Wissa shared a statement via his Instagram story ahead of the play-off matches.
The statement (translated from French) read: “The Congolese Football Federation (FECOFA) wishes to formally deny the rumour circulating on social media and in some media outlets, according to which each player on the national team, the Leopards of the DRC, has received or will receive one million US dollars as a bonus.
“FECOFA informs the public that this information is completely false, unfounded, and lacks any official basis from either the Government or the Federation.
“FECOFA calls on supporters, the media, and the general public to avoid spreading false news and to refer only to press releases and information from official sources, particularly those of FECOFA and the Ministry of Sports and Recreation