FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Brentford v Fulham - GTech Community Stadium, London, Britain - May 18, 2025 Brentford's Yoane Wissa during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Toby Melville/ File Photo
(Reuters) - Newcastle United's new recruit Yoane Wissa will have to wait for his debut after an injury suffered on international duty ruled him out of Saturday's Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers, manager Eddie Howe said on Friday.
Wissa was signed for a fee of 55 million pounds ($74.43 million), following a protracted transfer saga in which his previous club Brentford repeatedly rejected bids from Newcastle for the forward, leading to a stand-off.
The 29-year-old played in a pair of World Cup qualifiers for DR Congo this month, scoring against South Sudan and Senegal before suffering a knee injury.
Asked if he would be fit to face Wolves in the home fixture, Howe told reporters: "Unfortunately not, no. He won't make this game, I saw him for the first time yesterday.
"He's feeling the effects of the injury he sustained just before he came off. So we are going to have to see how he is... I think he will go away for tests and maybe see a specialist to see. Unfortunately I can't give you that update."
Wissa, who scored 45 goals in 137 Premier League appearances for Brentford, and club record signing Nick Woltemade will be tasked with leading Newcastle's attack, filling the boots of Alexander Isak after the Swede's move to Liverpool.
"An established Premier League goalscorer is very difficult to find and difficult to recruit. He (Wissa) has got great qualities, he had an outstanding year not just last year but before, so he's got a history of scoring goals," Howe said.
"He's done well against us and been a difficult player for us to handle when we have come up against him and I really admire the journey he has been on to get to this point because it has not been easy for him."
Howe added that midfielder Jacob Ramsey was also set for a spell on the sidelines after picking up an injury in Newcastle's 0-0 draw with Leeds United.
"His ankle swelled up at halftime and he had to come off. Unfortunately I think he will be missing until after the next international break so that is a big blow," he added.
Newcastle have had a poor start to their league campaign with just two points from their opening three matches.
($1 = 0.7389 pounds)
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
