It looks like Papiss Cissé will be part Newcastle’s pre-season campaign, after the club blocked an approach from Senegal to register the player for the upcoming Olympics Football tournament.
Alan Pardew told BBC Radio Five Live yesterday that he was in discussions with Senegal over Cissé’s involvement in the Olympics, describing the situation as ‘awkward.‘ Senegal, on the other hand, were hopeful of registering their captain as one of the three over-age players allowed in the squad.
However, Newcastle have now turned down Senegal’s request for Cissé, instead making sure he is well prepared with pre-season games in Germany and Portugal under his belt.
Papiss will be back in Newcastle for pre-season training next Monday instead of flying out to join up with Senegal U23 squad’s three-week training camp in Spain.
Senegal play Team GB at Old Trafford (26/07) a day before Newcastle play Olympiacos in Faro (27/07). Their next game is against Uruguay (29/07), a day after Toon take on FC Porto (28/07) in the same tournament. Senegal then play UAE when a reserve NUFC side faces Gateshead on 1st August and if Senegal went all the way, Cissé would have been away until a week before the new season begins.
After discussions and Newcastle’s firm stance, Cissé will be preparing for the new season with Newcastle.
Keep an eye on NUFCfans.co.uk, @nufcfans on Twitter and our Facebook page for a word from Senegal’s camp on Cissé’s potential exclusion.
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