Last week saw Newcastle make the first major foray into the January transfer market with the purchase of Papiss Demba Cisse from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg on a five-and-a-half year deal. The fee, thought to be in the region of £7.5m, sees Cisse link up with fellow Senegal international Demba Ba on Tyneside and affords Alan Pardew a lethal looking front pairing for the second half of the season…
With both players currently on international duty in the African Cup of Nations, Newcastle fans will have to wait a little longer to see the duo in action on Tyneside. Even if Senegal progress as far as the semi-finals – and the resultant final or third-place play-off- both will be back in time for the gameweek 26 home clash with Wolves at the very latest.
Cisse, having flown back from his country’s training camp in order to complete the deal, admitted the persistence of Alan Pardew played a big part in sealing the deal:
Newcastle have continually shown an interest in me. The time has come for me to show what I can do here now. I met Alan Pardew and I had a very good conversation about the future. I was very impressed by what he said and the plans for the club moving forward. The manager has shown a lot of trust in me by giving me the No 9 shirt here and now my objective is to repay that faith in me. I am very excited about the future.
The Statistics
The twenty-six year old began his career in his homeland with Douanes Dakar, scoring 23 goals in 26 games before catching the eye of French club Metz. Joining the Ligue 1 side in the 2005-06 season, he was quickly loaned out in order to gain more experience. Cisse headed off to AS Cherbourg, where he bagged 11 goals in 26 appearances.
Cisse returned to Metz the following season but, despite 32 games and 12 goals, he failed to convince and was, once again, farmed out to a fellow-French side, this time moving to LB Châteauroux on loan. He managed just 4 goals from 15 appearances before returning to his parent club for the start of the 2008-09 campaign. This time, he remained a first-team fixture for the next two and a half seasons, before SC Freiburg snapped him up halfway through 2009-10, with Cisse’s record for Metz standing at 35 goals from 92 games.
Cisse managed just one full season and a couple of half campaigns in the Bundesliga but was a major success. In total, he grabbed 37 goals from 65 games, a fantastic record despite plying his trade for one of the lesser clubs. Last season, only Mario Gomez scored more times in Germany’s top-flight; the Bayern man netted 28 times to Cisse’s 22. The Senegal international had already scored 9 times in 15 games this term, despite his club nestling in the relegation slots.
The Prospects
Let’s face it; Mike Ashley isn’t going to part with that sort of money for a bench-warmer. The fact that he’s been handed the iconic number 9 jersey sums up Pardew’s faith in Cisse, too; it’s pretty much a given the new boy has been brought in to partner Ba up top, with Pardew’s penchant for 4-4-2 affording him plenty opportunity to impress.
While Ba has proven to be one of the major success stories of the season, it’s obvious there’s an over-reliance on him to produce the goods; the former West Ham man has scored 15 goals, more than the rest of the Newcastle squad combined, with Leon Best’s 4 the second highest goal tally for the Magpies.
Cisse’s introduction should go a long way to remedying that. His pace, power and direct game should fit in with Pardew’s system, as the Magpies boss explained:
Ever since Andy Carroll left, Papiss was my first choice. 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’s a player who plays off the shoulder and wants to go in behind, but he’s got a little bit more to his game than that.
Newcastle have exceeded all expectations so far, sitting sixth in the league, despite scoring just 32 goals; the least of the top six clubs. With (WOL, SUN, NOR) all arriving at the Sports Direct Arena between gameweek 26-29, Cisse has been handed the perfect opportunity to get his career on Tyneside off to a flying start. Yet to be priced by Fantasy Premier League, he should come in around the 7.0 mark and, with his eye for goal, looks set to offer Fantasy managers a viable alternative to Ba up top as the season unfolds.
