Newcastle United winger ruled out of at least two games after official squad announcement

Newcastle United will be represented at this month's African Cup of Nations after Yankuba Minteh was called up by Gambia.

Minteh joined the Magpies from Danish side Odense Boldklub in the summer before he immediately loaned to Feyenoord. The 19-year-old has impressed at the Dutch champions - making 18 appearances and scoring four times. Last month netted his first Champions League goal in a 2-1 defeat to Celtic.

The winger, however, will take a break from club football after being included in Gambia's 27-man AFCON squad. Their Group C campaign gets underway on Monday against defending champions Senegal before facing Guinea and Cameroon.

That means Minteh will miss Feyenoord's Eredivisie matches against Nijmegan and Vitesse . He could miss more matches depending on whether Gambia qualify for the knockout stages.

Newcastle have kept a close eye on Minteh's progress in the Netherlands which led to suggestions that he could be recalled this month. However, that would require an agreement between the Magpies and Feyenoord as there is no automatic recall clause.

Speaking previously about Minteh, United boss Eddie Howe said: “We’ll make a decision on him, like we would with all our loan players.

“I think his loan spell has been a productive one. He’s scored goals and been part of a successful team. He’s certainly got talent, although the Premier League is a very different league to any other league in Europe.

“That doesn’t mean that players can’t come in or out of the Premier League. He’s someone we like, and he’s certainly got the athletic profile that we need."