I will respect Newcastle No 9 shirt, insists Cisse

The Premier League club confirmed the deal last night and are thought to have spent in the region of £10m 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 African Nations Cup, which gets under way in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon on Saturday.

Cisse will wear the famous No 9 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.”

Cisse was rated at around £14m during the summer, but it is understood the fee is significantly less than that with the Magpies continuing to exploit the European market, a policy which has proved hugely productive in recent seasons.

The forward added: “I am aware of the huge importance of the No 9 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 manager 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.”