44-goal ex-Newcastle United man training with non-league side after summer release

Former Newcastle United striker Papiss Cisse is training with non-league side Macclesfield FC. The 38-year-old was released by Ligue 2 side Amiens at the end of last season and has been without a club since.

Although he was released by the French side at the end of his contract, Cisse still netted ten times in 30 appearances in France’s second division last season following a three year spell in Turkey. Macclesfield, meanwhile, currently play in the Northern Premier League and are a phoenix club of former Football League club Macclesfield Town after they were liquidated in 2020.

According to the Telegraph, Cisse is currently living in the north west and is keen on prolonging his playing career. The Senegalese international scored 44 times for Newcastle United during his four-and-a-half years on Tyneside, a haul that included a stunning return of 13 goals in his first 14 matches after joining from SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Speaking about his time on Tyneside to Behind The White Lines, Cisse revealed he was an adopted Geordie and that he now counts himself as a Newcastle United fan following an ‘amazing’ time in the north east. He said: "I still love this team, because when I arrived, the fans, the club – it was amazing. The people helped me in every way.

"You could see it in my first six months, because I felt very good, and you could see it in how I was playing. In the dressing room, the fans inside the stadium, how they helped me to score 13 goals in 14 games. I always want to say thank you to the Newcastle fans, to the Geordie people!

"Newcastle's my team. I’d never supported a team all my life, but when I arrived at Newcastle, I have them in my heart. I have the black and white in my heart."

Former Blackburn Rovers and Derby County midfielder Robbie Savage is currently a director of Macclesfield FC who sit 6th in the Northern Premier League following their win over Whitby Town at the weekend. Former Everton striker Oumar Niasse has also previously trained with Mcclesfield in the past.