Cisse impressed by Pardew

New Newcastle striker Papiss Demba Cisse has lifted the lid on just why he opted to join the club and why he is looking forward to the challenge.

The Senegal international has admitted that he was impressed with the persistence of Newcastle and enjoyed listening to Alan Pardew's plans for the club before signing on the dotted line on Tuesday.

The capture of Cisse represents a real coup for the club and has give hope to fans who had been doubting the ambition of the board. It's still early days of course as the transfer window is still open, but now there is anticipation amongst fans rather than the angst on show prior to the signing. It's an anticipation shared by our new number nine.

“Newcastle have continually shown an interest in me. The time has come for me to show what I can do here now,” Cisse told the Chronicle.

He continued: “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."

“I have come here to help move the club in the right direction and I’m already looking forward to getting the chance to do that, we are in a great position at the moment."

“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.”

We'll see what happens of course, but Cisse's record speaks for itself. Wouldn't it be just Newcastle's luck for us to spend (relatively) big only for the player to fail to settle or not live up to the hype or something daft like that?

I jest of course. You can never say never but it appears Newcastle have done their homework again and have matched up the player to the task in hand and assessed his suitability to the Premier League. Maybe this is why the Maiga medical failed?

It's up to Cisse now though. Once he gets back from the African Cup of Nations the talking can stop and he can start letting his football show everyone what he is all about. Hopefully it leads to the exciting future painted by Alan Pardew.

Optimism in January? Surely not?