Alanyaspor striker Papiss Cisse dreams of returning to Newcastle United one day as a fan four years after leaving St. James’ Park.
The 34-year-old spent four-and-a-half years in the Magpies colours, scoring 44 goals in 131 appearances before leaving for Chinese Super League’s Shandong Luneng in the summer of 2016.
Cisse is currently the second highest goalscorer in the Turkish Süper Lig, with 16 league goals to his name in 25 appearances.
The Senegalese was a huge fans’ favourite at SJP and he has fond memories of his time at Newcastle.
Cisse hasn’t been back on Tyneside since he left but he’s hoping to do so some day, dubbing the fans as the best in the world.
“For me, Newcastle fans are the best in the world. Sometimes, I sit here and my friends will send me videos of when Newcastle fans were singing my name. I cannot ever forget Newcastle United,” the striker told Chronicle Live.
“It’s going to stay part of me because I love this team. It’s my team. It’s the team of my heart. In all my career, in all the teams I have played at, I gave everything and if I left, I left but Newcastle is not like that.
“I want to come to Newcastle and this stadium again as a fan. That’s part of my dream.”
Newcastle fans would love to see Cisse return as a fan, and some of them would even argue that he would have done a better job than Joelinton leading the line this term.
The Brazilian has scored just one league goal since arriving for a club-record £40 million last summer, and it remains to be seen if he has a future at the club with a £300 million takeover on the cards.
A major squad overhaul is expected post-takeover, and Newcastle fans will hope the club can land a striker that will hit the ground running like Cisse did when he arrived at SJP from Freiburg in January 2012.
The Senegalese ended the campaign with 13 league goals in 14 games, helping the Magpies to fifth position in the table, and such a clinical goalscorer is needed within their ranks as the club look to return to the top of the Premier League log going forward.
