Striker Papiss Cissé has admitted the strongest he felt during his career was during his time at Newcastle United.
Cissé joined Newcastle in a €12m deal from Freiburg in January 2012, arriving midway through the campaign to bolster the Magpies squad.
He proved to be an instant hit, finishing that campaign with 13 goals and two assists in 14 Premier League games before the end of the season.
That included doubles against the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea, the latter in which he scored two wonder goals that are still fondly remembered to this day.
Indeed, he is still well thought of at Newcastle United, where he went on to score 44 goals and register ten assists in 131 games in total.
He never quite managed to hit the heights of that first season, eventually leaving in a €5.85m move to SD Luneng in China.
He’s since enjoyed a varied career with the likes of Alanyaspor, Fenerbahce, Rizespor and now Amiens, for whom he has six goals and two assists in 14 games in Ligue 2 this season.
Those are impressive numbers, to say the least, but he admits he has never felt as strong as he did during his time at Newcastle.
“In England. My first six months, every weekend Alan Pardew would ask me, “How many are you going to score today?” I’d say, “Let’s see, one to start with and maybe two,” he told So Foot when asked where he felt the strongest.
“I did. Pardew said, “Okay, you’ve done it! We’ll see next week”. The following week, same thing. I always manage to get that first goal.
“When I got home, I’d sit on the sofa and I think: ‘What’s going on… Papiss, are you OK? Yes.’ It was wonderful. When I signed in England, a lot of people didn’t believe I would make it. But I did it.”
