Newcastle United won’t be giving up on their £55m man – and he won’t give up on his Newcastle career either
10:00, 07 Apr 2026Updated 10:16, 07 Apr 2026
Yoane Wissa can still make an impact at Newcastle United
We all know the story of Yoane Wissa and Newcastle United by now. There have been many column inches dedicated to the summer transfer and the subsequent impact both on the field and in the accounts department.
A £55million deadline day acquisition. A 29-year-old ‘Premier League ready’ centre-forward to replace Alexander Isak with United left high and dry in the hunt for a new striker. Then a three-month lay-off with a knee injury picked up just a couple of days later, a few goals on his return but then a raft of anonymous displays, missed chances and more splinters in his backside from sitting on the bench than minutes on the pitch over the last two months.
And a raft of fan and pundit criticism about a perceived attitude and waste of money.
That just about covers it, doesn’t it? Except, there’s more to this story than meets the eye.
Before I go on, let me state from the off that this won’t be another pop at Wissa. Far from it. Instead, there will be an explanation why the forward – while not likely to ride to United’s rescue this season – can certainly still be a key man next term.
Wissa returned to Tyneside last week on a high. His time away on DR Congo duty had been a resounding success as he helped his country to the summer’s World Cup finals with a play-off win over Jamaica. The forward played the opening 90 minutes before being replaced at the start of extra-time.
“I have confidence in my body now,” he said before the game. “I’m really happy to be here and eager to give it my all. I know I have a lot to prove.”
That 90 minutes – along with the goal and the runout he got in the friendly a few days prior – will have done him the world of good. Wissa’s fitness has been his main issue this season and the pivotal reason for his poor form. He’s been playing catch up, and the lack of regular training time due to United’s relentless match schedule hasn’t helped his cause.
Anyone who scores 20 goals in a Premier League campaign has something about them – and Wissa certainly is no mug in front of goal. Yet he has been a dud so far for Newcastle – there’s no denying that. So how can he turn it around?
The one thing that stands him in good stead is that he has battled his way back from setbacks before. Not many players recover from an acid attack and kidnapping to make it to the top.
Wissa’s route to the Premier League wasn’t conventional, however. Growing up in France, he started life as a goalkeeper and then a midfielder, had to make the decision between rugby union and football at the age of 14, was barred from playing for a year by his father as he was made to focus on his education, and then once he was in the pro game was playing in front of crowds of 3,000.
Newcastle fans may wince at claims by some Brentford watchers that he was the hardest-working player in their side. Certainly in recent weeks, Wissa’s body language on the rare occasions he has been on the pitch hasn’t looked positive.
But this is a player who is determined to succeed. In July 2021, a month before he joined Brentford from Lorient, Wissa was attacked at his home, with acid thrown in his face. A woman was later sentenced to 18 years in prison for the attack, and of attempting to kidnap his daughter.
Wissa could have lost his sight and required eye surgery but refused to buckle. Lorient manager Christophe Pelissier visited the forward in hospital a day after the assault. “Despite the severity of his injuries, Yoane quickly demonstrated great determination to succeed,” he said. “His strength of character and fighting spirit are incredible.
“What struck me about him was his strong will and how he never gave up.”
DR Congo’s forward Yoane Wissa reacts during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers final playoff against Jamaica
Wissa himself said: “This resilience has become a characteristic of my entire career, from playing in front of fewer than 3,000 spectators at Chambly in the French second division in 2019, to preparing for a Champions League match against Barcelona with Newcastle this season.”
The forward will need all that resilience again if he is to bounce back from a nightmare first season on Tyneside. His words in the aftermath of DR Congo’s qualification, however, show that he won’t go down without a fight.
“Today we have just realized how difficult things are to achieve without hard work and perseverance,” he wrote on social media. Breaking a negative spiral, breaking a wheel much bigger than ourselves, has been the most important and trying test in our history.
“We will never play the same way again, we will never sing this national anthem the same way again. We are not perfect, but we have been mocked, ridiculed, humiliated, but we have always faced adversity head-on.”
It may be that the summer will bring Wissa the hope he needs. There have been claims that United may look to cash in on him but the financial situation probably prevents that. There would be a significant hit on the fee they paid which could impact the squad cost controls. But it will still be a big couple of months for the forward. Not only will he appear in a World Cup, but will – fingers crossed – return fit and raring to go for Newcastle, enjoy a strong pre-season and show that he was worth the huge amount of money spent on him.
And there’s one other way this could work out too. While the 29-year-old was signed as a centre-forward, he made his name originally in France and during his early days at Brentford as a left-sided forward. Should United get the central striker they need this summer, perhaps a role for Wissa out wide could be his best bet at finally making his mark on Tyneside.
