Newcastle complete Cisse signing

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 £10million 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 CAF Africa Cup of Nations, which gets under way in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon on Saturday. Cisse will wear the famous number nine shirt on Tyneside. "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." The forward added: "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.