Eddie Howe admits Newcastle won't see best of Yoane Wissa this season

Yoane Wissa's dream move to Newcastle United has been more of a nightmare in his first season.

While Alexander Isak was causing ructions at Newcastle in the summer, trying to force a move away from the club, at Brentford, Yoane Wissa was doing something similar, trying to get a move to Newcastle.

Both strikers eventually got their wish, but karma came knocking for the pair of them. Yoane Wissa would pick up a knee injury on international duty just days after signing for the Magpies, ruling him out for almost five months. Meanwhile, Alexander Isak ended up with a broken leg and missed most of the season.

Neither has really got to show their new clubs what they can do. The fact that Wissa has been fit enough to sit on the bench for the last couple of months but hasn't played has led to a lot of questions.

Where's Wissa been?

With Newcastle struggling for goals, fans have been left wondering what Wissa has to do to get on the pitch - although when he has done so, the results haven't been great.

Eddie Howe was finally asked to explain the situation on Friday morning, where he admitted that Wissa has found it tough this season and we aren't likely to see the best of him until next season after a full pre-season and plenty of work on the training pitch.

“He's had a very difficult season and I think the most difficult part for Yoane has been that he got back fit and of course, there was a huge feeling inside of him he wanted to rush back and show everybody how good he is and then we haven't been able to train him in the way that we would normally train him.

“It's very small groups, game every two or three days, very stop-start for him. He was never able to get a rhythm. I have to say we've probably seen the best of him in his time at Newcastle this week. I've been pleased with how he's looked physically.

“I still feel there's loads more to come. I feel a pre-season would definitely help him. I think you could see a totally different player with a really sustained period where he's able to do what he needs to do.

“He's been trying, he's been really wanting to make the difference, but I think there's been physical things that have just kept him back from doing that.

“No injury, but as I say, it's just the time that he's had on the pitch and the time he's had in training to get his body right up to full speed. So I think the best is yet to come.”

Wissa is a cautionary tale that must be learned from

Newcastle's congested fixture schedule this season has a lot to answer for. Neither Yoane Wissa nor Nick Woltemade has really had the chance to participate in proper training sessions at the club until recently, after going out of the Champions League.

It's another reason why Ross Wilson needs to be proactive in the transfer market in the summer. The quicker Howe knows what squad he's working with, the sooner he can get to work with them.

There's always going to be complications, but if we can get the bulk of our business done early, we hopefully won't be relying on players getting up to speed during games again, which has been the biggest problem for both our strikers this season.