Newcastle United’s £55million signing Yoane Wissa is targeting a return from injury after the international break, while his DR Congo national team progressed to the World Cup play-offs.
Newcastle United forward Yoane Wissa is closing in on his debut and pushing to return to action following the November international break, according to a report from The Shields Gazette.
The 29-year-old joined The Magpies from Brentford for £55million, but suffered a PCL injury while away with the DR Congo national team just days after signing. After 10 weeks on the sidelines, Wissa is training individually and is now ready to push on.
Discussing Wissa’s return, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe said:
“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.”
Howe added that the club would need to give him time to be “fit and robust enough,” assuring fans the return would be “worth the wait.”
Though Wissa missed the recent fixtures, he watched as his national team, DR Congo, progressed to the World Cup inter-confederation play-offs scheduled for Mexico in March.
He shared his joy on Instagram after their victory over Nigeria on Sunday, writing: “A really great group. I love you guys so much!”
Meanwhile, the Congolese Football Federation (FECOFA) issued a statement via Wissa’s Instagram story to formally deny rumours that each player would receive a $1million bonus for reaching the play-offs.