Newcastle United Yoane Wissa injury compensation boost cut after AFCON snub - was worth up to £6.5m
Newcastle United have received financial compensation following Yoane Wissa’s three-month knee injury.
Newcastle United signed Yoane Wissa from Brentford for £55million on transfer deadline day only for the forward to pick up an injury days later.
The 29-year-old suffered a PCL injury while away on international duty with DR Congo and is yet to make his debut for the club.
Wissa has returned to training and taken part in two 11v11 practice matches this past week, suggesting he is close to finally being named in the Newcastle matchday squad.
The Magpies have also been boosted by DR Congo’s omission of Wissa from their African Cup of Nations squad. AFCON could have ruled Wissa out for a further seven matches had he been selected. Given his three-month injury absence, to have him back fit only to join up with his country once again would have been a big blow for Newcastle over a busy festive period.
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NUFC receive Yoane Wissa compensation
Wissa scored 19 Premier League goals for Brentford last season and his absence for Newcastle has been a major blow that has limited Howe’s attacking options during the opening months of the season.
Fortunately, the form of Nick Woltemade has lessened the blow of Wissa’s injury. Woltemade has scored seven goals for The Magpies since his club record £65million arrival from VfB Stuttgart.
Although Newcastle invested a significant fee to sign Wissa, they have been able to cover some of their losses so far. The Magpies received a small fee from FIFA after Wissa featured in the two World Cup qualifier games back in September.
In addition, Wissa’s wages have also been covered by FIFA until his return from injury.
Newcastle applied to FIFA as part of the Club Protection Programme (CPP). The Club Protection Programme is an insurance scheme that covers clubs that have had players injured on international duty and subsequently ruled out for at least 28 days.
The Club Protection Programme covered Wissa’s wages from October 7.
FIFA guidance states the CPP covers clubs for a maximum of €7.5million (around £6.5million) per player, per accident and is payable for a maximum of 365 days. The reality is Newcastle will receive less than £1million after Wissa’s absence.
This is because the compensation stops once the player is no longer suffering from a ‘temporary total disablement’ from playing. Now Wissa has been cleared to return to first-team training and participate in 11v11 matches, Newcastle will have to pay his wages in full once again.
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Yoane Wissa return date
Newcastle are back in Premier League action against Burnley at St James’ Park on Saturday (3pm kick-off). Given Wissa is back training and Newcastle have named 18-year-old forward Sean Neave on the bench in each of their last two matches due to a lack of senior attacking options, the DR Congo international’s return could be just around the corner.
But Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe wouldn’t commit to saying Wissa would be available this weekend but did leave the door open for a possible inclusion in the matchday squad.
When asked about the forward, Howe said: “I don't know, we'll see how the week goes. We've got a lot more training to do yet so let's see.”