Soccer: Newcastle have signed Senegalese striker Papiss Demba Cisse from Freiburg on a five-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee.
The Premier League club confirmed the deal tonight and are thought to have spent in the region of €12 million on the 26-year-old, who is an international team-mate of new Magpies strike partner Demba Ba.
Cisse has nine Bundesliga goals to his name so far this season and scored for his country in their 1-0 victory over Kenya in a warm-up game for the African Nations Cup, which gets under way in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon on Saturday.
“I would like to thank everybody for their welcome, and for inviting me to sign for the club,” he said.
“It is an honour to play for such a big club and I am looking forward to it. I want to pay back the confidence the club have shown in me, and give the supporters something to be proud of.
Cisse will wear the famous number nine shirt on Tyneside, the same worn by the likes of Jackie Milburn, Alan Shearer and Andy Carroll, and admitted he knows the pressure that comes that comes with it at the club.
“I am aware of the huge importance of the number nine shirt, and when I spoke with the manager he made it very clear how important this shirt is. I will treat it with respect and I hope to do my very best in this shirt.”
Magpies boss Alan Pardew added: “Ever since Andy Carroll left, Papiss was my first choice in the specific role he has at the end of the play.
“He is a finisher with an already-established CV in the Bundesliga, where we have monitored him for the best part of two years.
“I spoke to Demba about Papiss, and he cannot wait to join up with his team-mate in Newcastle.
“In the short-term, of course, he is at the Africa Cup of Nations, but the competition he will bring to our squad when he joins up with us should inspire the players and reassure them of this club’s ambition.
“Our fans know that this shirt brings its own pressures. One of the iconic numbers in world football - the number nine of Newcastle.
“It will be only fair that Papiss is given time to understand the responsibility it brings. As the manager, I wish him all the luck in the world to bring success to himself and this club.”
