Wissa the Missa - Yoane Wissa Might be the Worst Signing in Premier League History, and the Mags are SEETHING

Yoane Miss-a: Is He Accidentally the Worst Signing in Premier League History

Wissa’s 20-goal 2024/25 season is the stuff of legend, the type of campaign that in a few years will undoubtedly see him become the definitive ‘streets won’t forget’ player.

Even before that, he had proven himself to be an absolute Premier League menace, netting 29 goals across the previous three seasons as Brentford surprised everyone by becoming an established Premier League team.

It was hardly surprising that he was a wanted commodity in the summer of 2025, as Spurs, Nottingham and Newcastle circled the Coongo striker in a bid to seal the signature of a widely experienced and increasingly deadly centre forward, with the Magpies eventually snagging the then 28-year-old in the end.

However, ever since arriving at St. James’s Park, nothing has gone to plan for Wissa – indeed, arriving for the price he did, he was being scrutinised as a signing before he even took to the pitch for the Tyneside club, and when he did finally start making regular appearances, they would only confirm what a large fraction of fans already believed in the first place.

Brentford fans. Yoanne Wissa. Was he ever any good? Genuinely one of the worst I can remember for #nufc

— Chris M (@FishandChipsNE) October 29, 2026

His woeful misses in Newcastle’s 3-1 Carabao Cup defeat to Everton last night has seen criticism reach a whole new level – sending two shots closer to the corner flag than the goal, and hitting target with just one of four attempts, patience in the northeast of England may have finally run out.

Unfair Expectations or Simply An Underperformer?

Much of the scrutiny came from Wissa’ disproportionately large transfer fee at the time of his move. Arriving at Newcastle with the club having shelled out £50 million up front plus a few more million if certain terms were met in his time at the club.

At 28 years old and arriving at the club with a knee injury that would keep him out until the midway point of his debut season, the majority would have expected him to arrive at a cut-price - anything at around £30 million or less would have been fair.

But while it was his price tag that invited initial criticism, it was his consistently lacklustre performances that failed to halt it. He netted just three times in 28 games in his first season, and this campaign has managed to net one in 11 appearances.

Though I hate XG, the divisive statistic aids the argument here – the centre forward is averaging 0.14 goals per 90 despite averaging around 0.25 XG per 90. The XG figure in itself is far from impressive, and to be underperforming that number is even more so.

And his finishing has been truly terrible, as illustrated during last night’s second half. In both the 76th and 88th minutes, Wissa only managed to slice his attempts to within feet of the corner flag, the sign of a striker operating on absolutely 0 confidence - I’ve never seen a fanbase lose their heads like Newcastle fans did on X in the aftermath of those misses.

In most circumstances, now would be the time for Toon fans to get behind their striker, to support him, cheer him, and give him that crumb of self-belief that the nightmare will end. The closest I can compare it to as a Chelsea fan is Timo Werner’s time at Stamford Bridge. Yes, he missed sitter after sitter after sitter, but we would never stop cheering him for his work rate, movement, and the promise that, despite his misses, he would keep getting into goal-scoring positions.

But it seems that the St James’s Park faithful have grown frustrated to a point beyond offering their morale support – every time Wissa makes an error in possession or misses wildly with a shot, the howls of derision, anger and resentment echo around the ground.

Pound for pound, his output makes him arguably the worst signing in Newcastle United history, and that’s saying something – anyone remember how bad Michael Owen was after breaking the club's transfer record?

His lack of clinical edge in front of goal is not Newcastle’s only issue, but it certainly isn’t helping Matthias Jaissle’s cause – brought in to build on the excellent work done by Eddie Howe, the club instead seems to be taking a backwards step under the German, and with every chance Wissa spurns, his sell-by-date edges that little bit closer.

Of course, there is still time for Wissa to turn his fortunes around – at 30, he has a few good years left in his career, and he has already proven himself more than capable of bagging regularly in England’s top flight.

Brentford ending the meeting after getting £55m for Yoane Wissa https://t.co/iBLWbgIqFd

— Thomas (@thomashammond__) March 8, 2026

Wissa is also no stranger to hardship. Victim of an acid attack in 2021, the only reason he is still playing is thanks to a successful emergency eye-surgery. Compared with that, a poor run of form and fan resentment are a walk in the park, and there is no doubt that deep down, Wissa still believes he can rectify his past mistakes.

However, his time to do so is running out, and it could simply be a case of wrong place, wrong time. Had he stayed at Brentford, he would probably still be netting on a regular basis. But hindsight is a wonderful and terrible thing at the same time - a move elsewhere could have made his career, but instead, it’s tearing it to shreds in front of his eyes.

Is there still time for Wissa to find form in black and white stripes, or should Newcastle cash in while the striker still has some value?