Yoane Wissa reflects on 'wonderful' Brentford journey after acrimonious exit | OneFootball

Wantaway forward eventually got his desired transfer to Newcastle on Deadline Day

Yoane Wissa says he still has a lot of respect for Brentford despite forcing through a Deadline Day move to Newcastle.

Despite the dispute, Wissa insisted in his first interview as a Newcastle player that he still has a lot of love and respect for Brentford, who brought him to the Premier League in 2021.

“Always respectful of communication, open talks, back and forth, of course, but always respectful. They had their arguments, I got mine. But yes, the most important thing was always respectful, always, with all of them,” Wissa said.

“So, that's why I kept myself fit, training, seeing the guys, being around every single day, and just waiting for the right moment to move.”

Wissa returned to first-team training at the start of August after leaving Brentford’s pre-season camp in Portugal amid interest from Newcastle but wasn’t included in any of Brentford’s matchday squads under new head coach Keith Andrews.

Wissa, who turned 29 on Wednesday, described the wonderful journey he went on at Brentford, recovering from an acid attack shortly before he moved to the club to become their all-time leading Premier League goalscorer.

“It was a wonderful journey. Even for this deal to happen, it was quite difficult because I had a story before to join Brentford,” Wissa continued.

“So, that's why I've got a lot of respect for them, even though now I'm a Newcastle player. But I've got a lot of love, a lot of respect, so it's still going to be the same. So, I enjoy every moment.

“The first goal, I remember the first goal, obviously the last one. It's been tough, it's been competitive, it's been a lot of ups and downs. But I think what we should remember is last year, what we've done, what we've created. It's been such an amazing journey.”

Wissa had always made clear his desire to leave Brentford and took to Instagram the day before the deadline to voice his frustrations at not being able to pursue a move to Newcastle.

"I have stayed silent for much of the summer, but with just hours remaining of the transfer window, I feel compelled to make it clear that I want to leave Brentford. I believe the club are unduly standing in my way despite a series of fair offers throughout the summer,” he said in a statement.