THE signing of Papiss Demba Cisse has electrified the Newcastle United squad – and convinced them the board will back them all the way in their tilt for European football.

That is the verdict of Danny Simpson, who has handed the Magpies a double boost by declaring he is going nowhere in the January transfer window.

United swooped for long-term target Cisse on Tuesday evening after brokering a swift deal with his Bundesliga club Freiburg.

While Newcastle had always been planning to beef up their squad this winter, landing a replacement for Andy Carroll with such a proven goalscoring record was an impressive bit of business.

Simpson revealed that the players were enthused by the addition of Cisse, which he feels proves the ambition of the club after weeks of rumours surrounding possible exits.

“It’s a positive. There have been plenty rumours, but signings show ambition. It is nice for the players that are already around to see it,” Simpson said.

“We are doing well, we have lost a couple of players to the African Cup of Nations so it’s nice to hear of more coming in.

“We want to keep strengthening because we want to become a better unit and we want to finish higher. We don’t just want to be happy with where we are – we want to keep improving.”

The Cisse coup was greeted with delight by compatriot Demba Ba, who tweeted that ‘Papisto’ – the player’s nickname – “dreams of goals in his sleep”.