Magpies add second senegal striker

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEWCASTLE, England -- Newcastle signed Papiss Cisse from German side Freiburg on a 5 1/2-year contract on Tuesday, uniting the Senegal striker with his international teammate Demba Ba at the Premier League club.

The 26-year-old Cisse joined for an undisclosed fee, with some reports in the British media valuing the transfer at 10 million pounds ($15.3 million).

Cisse will not be available to Newcastle while Senegal is competing in the African Cup on Nations, which starts on Saturday.

"It is an honour to play for such a big club and I am looking forward to it," said Cisse, who has scored nine goals in 13 appearances for his country.

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew said his club had been following Cisse for the "the best part of two years."

"I spoke to Demba about Papiss and he cannot wait to join up with his teammate at Newcastle," Pardew said.

Ba is the Premier League's second-highest scorer this season with 15 goals, helping the team into sixth place in the league, four points behind fourth-place Chelsea.