Yoane Wissa could become embroiled in a club v country row after Eddie Howe declined to confirm whether he would be happy for Newcastle’s £55m striker to represent the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in this winter’s Africa Cup of Nations.
Wissa is sidelined with a posterior cruciate ligament injury sustained on international duty with the Leopards in September and has not kicked a ball for Newcastle since his summer transfer deadline day move to St James’s Park from Brentford. The 29-year-old has only just begun light running on grass and is still receiving intense physiotherapy on his knee before a prospective first team debut in mid-November.
Alan Shearer is among those pundits suggesting that Wissa should reject an almost inevitable call-up from the DRC for the tournament in Morocco in December and January and, instead, prioritise playing for Newcastle.
When Howe was asked if he endorsed that standpoint, Newcastle’s manager avoided answering the question directly. “That’s a conversation and a topic I’m not going to get involved in,” he said. “That’s not fair on Yoane. I haven’t seen Alan’s comments but that’s one I’ll stay away from.”
Right now Howe – whose side travel to Brighton on Saturday – is simply relieved that Wissa’s knee is recovering so rapidly from an injury that can sometimes require surgery and a nine-month layoff. “It’s great to see Yoane on the grass for the first time,” he said. “He’s reacted pretty well to that work so far. Now, it’s a case of trying to step him up gradually.”
Shearer believes Wissa, one of the DRC’s best players, acted irresponsibly in playing a key role during the World Cup qualifiers in September, despite barely training with Brentford during a close season spent largely trying to force a move to Tyneside.
“It will be a really difficult decision for Wissa not to go to Afcon,” said the former Newcastle captain and manager. “But, because of him not training or playing during the summer, he could have shown more responsibility in not playing as much as he did in those two games when he went away on international duty.”
Meanwhile, Newcastle officials are in regular contact with their counterparts in Marseille over arrangements for visiting fans wanting to travel to the French city for the teams’ Champions League meeting in late November.
In September the Marseille office of France’s ministry of the interior imposed a total ban on Ajax fans entering the city only three days before their Champions League fixture with the Dutch side. Newcastle hope their fans will avoid a similar scenario but cannot discount that possibility. Due to the excellent recent behaviour of Newcastle supporters in Europe, no ban is anticipated. Indeed, preparations are already well advanced to ensure fans can visit Marseille safely.
A club spokesperson said: “From the information we have now, at this moment in time, our fans are permitted to travel to Marseille. We have very clear instructions from the authorities in Marseille for when they do travel. So we’ll stick to that and let you know if there’s any change.”
Many Newcastle fans have already made travel arrangements while a series of special supporters’ charter flights have been organised to fly them direct from Tyneside to the south of France.
