Newcastle taught a lesson as Yoane Wissa's amazing stats emerge
Eddie Howe has struggled to encourage any consistent performance from Yoane Wissa since signing him for Newcastle United.
The 29-year-old arrived last summer in a deal worth around £55million and was coming off the back of a 20-goal campaign for Brentford.
Injury has seriously struggled during his time at Newcastle so far, however, with the forward scoring just three goals in 28 games across all competitions.
He could not score as DR Congo drew 0-0 with Denmark in the first of their World Cup warm-ups on Wednesday, but he produced a far better performance.
The stats from the game may well encourage Howe that there is still a strong future possible for Wissa at St James’ Park.
Yoane Wissa’s remarkable stats vs Denmark
Football Insider exclusively revealed last month that Newcastle are open to selling Wissa, and an appropriate bid would be extremely difficult not to accept.
The 29-year-old’s opening season at St James’ Park has contained very few positive moments.
He arrived on transfer deadline day last summer along with Nick Woltemade, with the pair brought in to replace Alexander Isak.
Wissa had performed excellently in a two-striker formation with Bryan Mbuemo last season, and there was hope that his form would continue under Howe.
But injury instantly struck, and the forward has ultimately started just eight games since he returned in December.
The DR Congo international will hope a positive World Cup can set him up for a return to form next season, however, and Wednesday’s performance was a good sign.
Playing behind striker Cedric Bakambu, Wissa created three chances for his teammates and completed four successful dribbles.
He also won four free-kicks, won most of his duels and even made five recoveries, in what was an outstanding performance.
Eddie Howe must see the Newcastle answer
Remarkably, despite the history both players have of performing well when paired together, Wissa and Woltemade have spent just 157 minutes on the pitch together.
Will Osula began starting for Newcastle in the second half of the season and has spent far longer on the pitch with the German.
For whatever reason, Howe appears to be entirely reluctant to start the pair together.
Wednesday’s game may well have been a wake-up call for the Englishman, and he has a long summer of thinking about his first starting line-up for next season ahead of him.