Papiss Demba Cisse eyes Newcastle success

The newest addition to Newcastle's squad, Senegal international Papiss Demba Cisse, has explained the reasons why he chose to leave Freiburg for Tyneside, despite the reported interest of Bayern Munich. Papiss enjoyed the perfect start to life in the Premier League with a match winning goal against Aston Villa last weekend.

Papiss Demba Cisse completed an 8.9 million Euro move from Germany to Newcastle in the January transfer window, and Alan Pardew is looking forward to building a squad around his Senegalese strike duo, Cisse and Demba Ba.


Cisse admitted that he was flattered to have been tracked by the Toon Army for so long, and that leaving Freiburg for his new club appeared to be an easy decision to make. "This is how I hoped it would be at Newcastle because I had a burning desire to play for a club of standing and importance in the Premier League. In my eyes, the English championship is the most exciting in the world, the number one competition.


"It is a level above Germany, Italy and Spain because of the prestige, star quality and the competitiveness of all the teams in the league.


"The reason why I chose Newcastle was simple. They were very enthusiastic about me joining and I realised straight away they had their homework about me. They know what I can do well and told me in detail how they saw me fitting into their team. I was very impressed with what I heard from them."


Pardew has reversed the fortunes of Newcastle this year, and Cisse admitted the thought of European football next year excited him already: "They are having a good season and the coach is ambitious and doesn't make a secret of his desire to push on even further. Newcastle are not Champions League participants at the moment, but they want to force themselves into that area and if I can help this come about, I'll be the happiest of men."


Cisse enjoyed the best possible start to his Newcastle career against Aston Villa, scoring a stunning volley in a 2-1 victory last weekend. The striker admitted that he could not have dreamt of a better start to life at his new club: "The goal against Aston Villa was something I dreamed about and it was so amazing when it happened."


Cisse is also sure that he will take no time to adjust to the rigours of Premier League football, and that the French legion of players at the Sports Direct Arena will help him settle quickly: "This is a big step for me, I don't deny it, but one I'm confident of taking in my stride. I like to think of myself as modest and humble but at the same time I've the strongest of beliefs in my ability to score goals and live with pressure.


"I don't imagine any problems settling. Demba Ba will offer me assistance and, with other French-speaking guys like Hatem Ben Arfa, Yohan Cabaye, Sylvain Marveaux, Gabriel Obertan and Cheick Tiote in the squad, I'm in good hands."