Newcastle United hero Alan Shearer has disclosed that Yoane Wissa will have to choose between playing for the Toons in December and representing DR Congo at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Recall that the 29-year-old is yet to make his debut for the Magpies after missing the bulk of preseason and then sustaining a knee injury on international duty with DR Congo in the September break.
Wissa is also yet to train with his new club, despite joining from Brentford on transfer deadline day for £50 million.
However, with the 2025 AFCON scheduled to be held in December, Shearer, in a chat with Betfair, said Wissa should have been more cautious, particularly after missing most of pre-season while forcing his transfer move.
Read Also:AFCON 2025: Uganda Can Beat Super Eagles, Tunisia — Captain Aucho
“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.”
