Cissé has agreed a 51/2-year contract with Newcastle and a basic wage of around £40,000 a week, in the process fulfilling a childhood dream of playing in the Premier League.
Alan Shearer:
He is delighted the club have found a man with a formidable goalscoring reputation in German football to wear their No 9; more importantly still, Shearer is thrilled the 26 year-old from Senegal seems to recognise and even welcome the burden of expectation which comes with it.
?It is one of the most iconic shirt numbers in football, certainly in this country, and I?m delighted that somebody has come in and is going to wear it,? said Shearer, the club?s record goalscorer. ?I can understand why it was kept empty when Andy left, but something has been missing
?You can look into it as much as you want, but there?s no doubt that it?s a special shirt. You can say the same about the No 7 at Liverpool or the No 10 at Tottenham Hotspur. It?s one of those positions that people look at.
?The most important thing is that Cissé actually wants to wear it, he wants that responsibility and that?s half the battle. There are expectations that come with it, but the biggest is a simple one ? that you score goals.?
