Papiss Demba Cisse - Newcastle's NEW #9

Newcastle have signed Senegal international striker Papiss Demba Cisse from Bundesliga outfit SC Freiburg.

The striker has signed a five-and-a-half year deal with the club and will wear the number nine shirt after moving from the German side for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of £9 million.

It's quite a coup for the club in truth. Cisse is one of the most talked about strikers in Europe at the moment thanks to his goalscoring exploits in the Bundesliga and to get him into the club deserves a pat on the back for everyone involved. Not just for showing a bit of ambition, but for the way the deal was done and how fast it was concluded. No other team stood a chance and nobody had a sniff until it was too late.

Moving onto the waffle now, and Cisse insists that he will give his all for the club and understands exactly what the number nine shirt means around these parts thanks to Alan Pardew.

"I would like to thank everybody for their welcome, and for inviting me to sign for the Club," Cissé told the official club website.

He continued: "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.

"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."

So we finally have our replacement for Andy Carroll then. Those aren't my words or my opinion. They are instead the words of Alan Pardew who revealed that Cisse was his first choice to replace the former number nine.

"Ever since Andy Carroll left, Papiss was my first choice in the specific role he has at the end of the play," he told nufc.co.uk. "He is a finisher with an already-established CV in the Bundesliga, where we have monitored him for the best part of two years."

"Unfortunately he was out of reach, financially, for us in the summer, but it recently became apparent that Derek Llambias and Lee Charnley could do the deal in this window."

"It has become obvious this season that the team and the Club have done exceptionally well, and Mike Ashley has backed me to bring this player to the Club. I would like to thank Mike, Derek and everyone involved for getting this deal over the line."

Cisse is good mates with Demba Ba which bodes well for us and for Demba's continued stay in Tyneside. Maybe he'll have second thoughts if a big club comes knocking now? We'll see, but for now Pardew insists that Ba is happy with the opportunity to link up with his international teammate at club level.

"I spoke to Demba about Papiss, and he cannot wait to join up with his teammate in Newcastle," said Pardew.

"In the short-term, of course, he is at the African Cup of Nations, but the competition he will bring to our squad when he joins up with us should inspire the players and reassure them of this Club's ambition."

"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."

"As the manager, I wish him all the luck in the world to bring success to himself and this Club."

Managing Director Derek Llambias added: "We are very pleased to bring Papiss to the Club."

"It is a signing which perfectly complements the type of side Alan is building, and we are sure he will prove to be an excellent acquisition going forward."

"He has travelled a long way to come and sign with us today, and we thank the Senegalese Football Federation for their assistance in helping us secure the player."

Hats off to Pardew, Ashley, Llambias and Charnley. They've delivered the goods in the transfer market for once although I'm not getting too carried away just yet as the window is still open and players can still leave.

Still, that's for another day. For now lets just enjoy this. We don't often pull off signings like this, but we have and we can enjoy it. Hopefully Cisse will click straight away and hit the kind of goals his figures suggest that he can.

Welcome to NUFC, Papiss Demba Cisee!