SENEGALESE STRIKER Papiss Demba Cissé will wear Newcastle’s legendary number nine jersey, following in the footsteps of club greats such as Jackie Milburn, Malcolm Macdonald and Alan Shearer.
Newcastle completed Cissé’s transfer from German side SC Freiburg yesterday for an undisclosed sum, reported to be in the region of £10m.
The 26-year-old, who is currently on international duty with new clubmate Demba Ba at the Africa Cup of Nations, made a flying visit to Tyneside yesterday to sign off on a five-and-a-half year deal which runs until the summer of 2017.
Newcastle fans will most likely have to wait until the end of February before they see their new Senegalese strike partnership in action, but Cissé has promised that he won’t disappoint when he finally pulls on the iconic number nine.
“I want to pay back the confidence the Club have shown in me, and give the supporters something to be proud of,” Cissé told the club’s official website.
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 the respect and I hope to do my very best in this shirt.
Manager Alan Pardew revealed last night that Cissé, who scored 37 goals in 65 appearances with Freiburg, was always his top target to replace Andy Carroll, who wore the number nine before his £35m move to Liverpool last January.
“Ever since Andy Carroll left, Papiss was my first choice in the specific role he has at the end of the play,” Pardew said.
“He is a finisher with an already-established CV in the Bundesliga, where we have monitored him for the best part of two years.”
He added: “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.”
Cissé began his career at AS Douanes in Dakar before moving to France where he had spell at Metz, Cherbourg and Chateauroux.
Senegal begin their Africa Cup of Nations campaign against Zambia on Saturday.
