“Frightening!” – Keith Downie told how Yoane Wissa has wowed Toon teammates

  After three months as a Newcastle player, Saturday’s game against Burnley could be when we finally see Yoane Wissa play in the black and w...

 

After three months as a Newcastle player, Saturday’s game against Burnley could be when we finally see Yoane Wissa play in the black and white stripes for the very first time.

Having suffered a terrible knee injury whilst on international duty with DR Congo, the deadline day signing has been on the sidelines ever since.

After a long period of recovery, a recent return to training and two behind-closed-doors games over the past week, Howe reveled this morning that he is in contention to be on the bench this weekend.

And, ahead of tomorrow’s 3pm kick-off, a glowing endorsement of his displays in training have emerged from one of his teammates as Keith Downie reveals.

Wissa in “red hot” in training

According to Sky Sports’ Keith Downie, who has been chatting to an unnamed Newcastle player last week, Yoane Wissa has been in “frightening” form since returning to full training sessions with the club.

Howe revealed today that the 29-year-old played 30 minutes in an 11 vs 11 game on Wednesday and will be assessed in training today regarding his availability tomorrow.

But, where he’s back against Burnley or makes his debut next week against Bayer Leverkusen and Sunderland, it sounds like he’s looking “razor sharp” and ready to hit the ground running, based on Downie’s exciting update:

“Speaking to one of the Newcastle players last week, he said to me that he (Wissa) has been training alongside them for a number of days now. And the word that was given to me was ‘frightening’.

“He looks absolutely frightening. He looks red hot in training, razor sharp, finishing superb. And the rest of the Newcastle players have been really impressed with what they’ve seen from Yoane Wissa in training.

“So that sounds good for a guy that’s been out for three months. He’s had a pretty serious knee injury that’s fair to say: a PCL (Posterior Cruciate Ligament) injury. But to hear one of his new teammates certainly say he’s looking great in training and looks the real deal, that’s good news as well.”

Wissa’s goal record before £55m move

Under Howe, we’ve seen some strikers go on prolific runs of form thanks to the manager’s much-favoured attacking style of football.

Alexander Isak was second top scorer in the entire league last season, whilst fellow Toon alumni Callum Wilson notched up an impressive 18 goals in 31 appearances back in the 22/23 campaign.

Could Wissa be the very next striker to go on a tear of form under Howe’s tutelage? The Congolese star boasts 31 league goals in 69 games across his last two seasons at Brentford.

Last season, only Mo Salah was able to produce more non-penalty goals than Wissa’s 19. If the 29-year-old can hit the ground running for us this month, then he could be the catalyst for us turning our entire season around and reminding teams both in the Premier League and abroad that we are still a force to be reckoned with.