YOANE WISSA only secured his dream Newcastle move with 30 SECONDS to spare.
The DR Congo star, 28, became Toon’s new No9 after finally completing his £55m transfer from Brentford on Monday.
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But the whole thing almost collapsed due to the hotshot accidentally failing to sign one of the forms required.
SunSport has learned that it was one of the star’s representatives that came to the rescue as they raced through Newcastle’s training HQ to find Wissa.
And his mad dash to get him to sign the document came in just the nick of time with only seconds of the deal sheet extension period left.
Fortunately for Eddie Howe, the signing was eventually rubber-stamped by the Premier League at 8.59pm – just under two hours after the initial 7pm transfer deadline.
Wissa has already left Tyneside to join up with his DR Congo team-mates ahead of Friday’s World Cup qualifier in South Sudan.
His national duty could also leave Howe with a Christmas nightmare as he faces up to the prospect of potentially missing SEVEN Newcastle matches.
And that could have huge repercussions on both the Magpies’ Prem and Champions League aspirations.
Wissa is set to miss crunch festive top-flight games against Manchester United, Chelsea and Burnley due to the Africa Cup of Nations, which runs from December 21 to January 18.
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Should DR Congo go all the way to the final then he could potentially be absent for another four more games.
Newcastle play Crystal Palace, Leeds and Wolves at the start of January and Wissa may also be a doubt for their Champions League showdown with PSV.
A host of top-flight clubs are due to lose stars to AFCON, but that is unlikely to make it any easier for Howe after Newcastle’s start to the campaign.
Due to Callum Wilson’s departure and Isak’s refusal to play, the Magpies were forced to play winger Anthony Gordon up front in the opening day stalemate at Aston Villa.
Inexperienced Danish U21 international Will Osula, who saw a £30m move to Stuttgart collapse on deadline day, came off the bench and scored in last week’s 3-2 defeat to Liverpool.
However, he failed to impress when handed a start as Toon were held to a goalless draw at Leeds on Saturday.
Howe at least has two options with both Wissa and fellow new forward Nick Woltemade, a £69m arrival from Stuttgart, chomping at the bit to start against Wolves on September 13 as his side chase their first win of the season.
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