Newcastle United legend, Alan Shearer, has stated that Yoane Wissa may face a tough choice between making his mark for the Magpies in December and representing DR Congo at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
The 29-year-old forward, who joined Newcastle from Brentford on transfer deadline day for £50 million, is still waiting to make his debut after missing most of pre-season and later picking up a knee injury while on international duty with DR Congo in September.
Wissa has yet to feature in training for his new club, and with AFCON scheduled for December, Shearer believes the forward’s situation presents a dilemma for both player and club.
Speaking to Betfair, Shearer said Wissa could have handled things differently after missing pre-season due to his transfer saga.
“It will be a really difficult decision for Wissa not to go to AFCON because you always want to represent your country,” Shearer told Betfair.
“But what I would say is, because of him not training or playing during the summer, he could’ve shown more responsibility in not playing as much as he did in those two games when he went away on international duty and hadn’t played at all.
“But it’s really tough to say to someone they can’t and won’t represent their country when it means so much. And we know AFCON is huge and players want to play in that tournament.
“It’ll be a tough ask, but I understand that there’ll be a lot of people thinking that he’s never played for Newcastle, and he needs to show some loyalty towards us.
“It’d be a really tough decision for him and Newcastle. Whether there’s a way around it, I’m not so sure.”
