Yoane Wissa back in the goals - £55m Newcastle striker scores in DR Congo win

Yoane Wissa's time at Newcastle United has been a far cry from what he dreamt of when trying to force through the move in the summer.

Wissa downed tools at Brentford to try and push through a move to Newcastle, eventually getting his way with just 30 seconds left of the summer window.

Newcastle had to pay £55 million for the striker who would turn 29 less than a week after he signed for the club. It was an astronomical fee for a player of his age, but his goal return for The Bees last season suggested it would be worth it.

Unfortunately, Wissa picked up a knee injury a few days later when in action for DR Congo and would ultimately miss five months of Newcastle's season. Things looked promising when he returned, quickly finding himself on the scoresheet, but his performances were deemed to be below par, and he has now fallen behind winger Anthony Gordon and headless chicken, Will Osula, in the pecking order.

Out of favour Wissa scores for DR Congo

Wissa's managed just three goals for Newcastle this season in all competitions, but it's the lack of minutes that suggests there's a bigger problem. Clearly, Eddie Howe has some reservations about the Congolese forward.

However, his country has no such worries. Wissa was straight back into the team as DR Congo took on Bermuda in a warm-up game ahead of their World Cup play-off game against either Jamaica or New Caledonia on Tuesday in Mexico.

Wissa marked his return to international duty with a goal last night, albeit from the penalty spot, scoring on the 51st minute in a 20 win over Bermuda.

A confidence booster?

What's important from a Newcastle perspective is that Wissa gets some much-needed game time while away with Congo, and if he can get himself a couple of goals too, that certainly won't harm his confidence.

Now that Newcastle will have some actual time on the training pitch between games, we may start to see the Wissa of last season, and he could start to play a part in the run-in.

Much like Nick Woltemade, we're hoping that a pre-season with the club will help them to overcome the difficulties they've faced this season, as it will be a struggle to sell £55 million Wissa for anything other than an astronomical loss if we don't see an upturn in performances.