Craig Hope gives update on expected Yoane Wissa return date as £55m man still waiting to make debut
We've had several false dawns when it comes to the potential return date of Yoane Wissa following the injury he picked up just days after sealing his £55 million move to Newcastle United.
Despite minimal training over the summer, Yoane Wissa linked up with DR Congo right after signing for Newcastle in December, and while he scored two goals and assisted another in his one and a half games for his country, he was forced off midway through the second half of the second game, and he hasn't been seen since.
There have been a couple of return dates pencilled in for Wissa, the first being the start of November, and then that was pushed back to 'after the international break', and now the goalposts have moved again.
Newcastle are being super careful with the 29-year-old, rather than rushing him back and risking any further damage.
Yoane Wissa to miss the next three games at least
In his latest Newcastle Confidential column, Craig Hope has said that the latest he's heard from the club is that Wissa's now not expected to play until early December.
That rules him out of the next three games at least.
Wissa was brought in to be the direct replacement for Alexander Isak in terms of style of play and goal-scoring ability, but instead, Eddie Howe has had to rely on the inexperience and wildly different style of Nick Woltemade up front.
The patience shown with Yoane Wissa should pay off in the long term
Thankfully, Woltemade has proved to be a revelation, but there is clearly still a lot of work to be done to nail down how best to utilise the German.
Having Wissa available will ease that burden and give everyone more time to adapt, while Wissa could pick up where Isak and Callum Wilson left off.
That being said, we'd much rather take our time to make sure he's 100% before he steps on the pitch, that way he's more likely to remain fit for the rest of the season.
