Bleacher Report har satt karakter på de største kjøpene i januarvinduet. Alle Newcastle sine kjøp fikk A+
Dette skriver de om Sissoko.
From Toulouse to Newcastle United for £1.8 million [?2.1 million] | Grade: A+
Racial stereotyping played a part in Moussa Sissoko being burdened with comparisons to Michael Essien and Patrick Vieira.
Moussa doesn't like tackling, he hates contesting headers, and doesn't want to track back?he has yet to make a tackle in the Premier League and has lost out in 16/21 aerial duels.
Whenever he was given defensive responsibilities at Toulouse, he either failed or disregarded it?so, it always seemed bizarre to call him box-to-box.
Scouts came to watch Sissoko, only to come away remembering Etienne Capoue, who's the midfield general people wrongly assumed Moussa would become.
When Alan Pardew says (via BBC Sport): "I remember watching him for Toulouse 14 months ago and I thought he is definitely the one for us, if we can get him," you have to applaud the manager.
Alan didn't see Sissoko as a centre midfielder, and certainly not a pivot, but as an athletic deep-lying forward?which is becoming a trend: Alexander Meier, Fredy Guarín, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Marouane Fellaini come to mind.
Or, perhaps it was Graham Carr, who suggested changing Moussa's position.
You don't expect Dimitar Berbatov to be an elite ball-winner, so don't judge Sissoko on his defending, because he has always been an attacking player pigeonholed in midfield.
Now that he is playing this free-roaming role under Pardew, Moussa has the potential to be an elite player.
In Ligue 1 this season, Moussa attempted 19 shots in 19 games and only netted one goal.
He has already shot eight times and scored twice for Le Toon.
Only £1.8 million? Toulouse need to take some lessons from Lyon in how to inflate transfer fees.
