Yoane Wissa breaks silence after ‘frustrating’ Newcastle United injury
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Newcastle United latest news: Yoane Wissa made his first appearance for Eddie Howe’s side against Burnley on Saturday.
Yoane Wissa made his much anticipated Newcastle United debut on Saturday, coming on as a second half substitute during their win over Burnley at St James’ Park.
Wissa joined the Magpies from Brentford on deadline day, but an injury suffered whilst on international duty with DR Congo in September sidelined him for the next 11 weeks. It was a great relief, therefore, when he finally made his first appearance in the black-and-white against the Clarets.
Having entered the pitch with his side two goals to the good, Wissa received a huge roar from all four sides of St James’ Park as they caught their first glimpse of the club’s new number nine. The 29-year-old had some nice touches during his cameo and whilst they almost threw the three points away in the dying stages, left the pitch with three points in the bag.
Yoane Wissa reacts to Newcastle United debut
Saturday’s game won’t last too long in the memory of fans, three huge games against Bayer Leverkusen, Sunderland and Fulham are already hotly-anticipated, but it will be a day that Newcastle United’s new £55m man will look back on fondly. For any player, making an instant impact at a new club is the dream, but reaching that dream has been ‘frustrating’ for Wissa during his time on Tyneside.
"It has been a long wait for me, for the fans and for my family.” Wissa told reporters at St James’ Park following Newcastle United’s win over Burnley.
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"It is something I have been dreaming of all summer and when it happened you feel like you are living the dream. So I am quite happy for that reception, which gave me goosebumps when I came on.
"It was a long wait. But in the end, we got there.
Wissa added: "It has been frustrating. It was more frustrating at the end than at the beginning.
"At the start you know you can't do anything, but when you are almost back, that is the moment where you get frustrated.
"You look at this team and the people at the club they have been like family to me. For the last 11 weeks, they have helped me.
"The first four weeks were strange because I was new to the place, but in the end I am happy to be ready."
It may be a little while longer until Wissa is starting games for the Magpies on a regular basis, but his impact, even from the bench, could be like gold dust for Eddie Howe in the coming weeks and months.
Speaking to Match of the Day about making debut for his new club, Wissa said: “It's been a long time. The last 11 weeks, I've learned about the team and the players.
“It's been a long road but I'm happy in the end. It gave my goosebumps [for his name to be read out when he came on]. I'm buzzing now. It can be an excellent season because we have so many quality players.”