The next African superstar?
Piers Edwards | 14 April 2011
He's one of football's hottest properties, with a host of top clubs chasing him, so will Papiss Demba Cisse be the next African to take the European game by storm?
The Senegalese is having what he calls an 'extraordinary season', which is why reports are constantly linking the Freiburg striker with a move to England, particularly Arsenal.
Plucked from FC Metz and the relative obscurity of the French second division in December 2009, Cisse has turned into one of the most feared strikers in the Bundesliga where the 25-year-old currently tops the scoring charts despite playing for unfashionable Freiburg.
Last Saturday, as the southern German side beat Hoffenheim 3-2, Cisse netted his 20th league strike of the season - so equalling Tony Yeboah's long-standing African record in Germany while also going a goal clear of Bayern Munich's Mario Gomez.
Cisse has become one of Europe's most sought-after players as his goals have prompted Freiburg, a club more used to battling relegation, to start dreaming of a place in Europe.
"I didn't know I had equalled Yeboah's record and was only told on the evening of the match," Cisse told me on the line from Freiburg earlier this week. "I was very happy but with five matches left, I still want to achieve more."
Namely - finish top scorer. And Cisse is well-placed to become the first African to ever do so by himself, since Yeboah had to share that honour with rival strikers in both 1993 and 1994 as the Eintracht Frankfurt striker's form caught the eye of Leeds United.
Should the Senegalese do so, he would follow in the footsteps of pioneers like Samuel Eto'o (first African top scorer in Spain: 2006) and Didier Drogba (ditto England: 2007) - two players who he is now being compared to.
Although his career path is more akin to Drogba - toiling in France's lower leagues before making his mark relatively late in his career - his style of play is more reminiscent of Eto'o, with Cisse an out-and-out striker who gobbles up most of his goals from close range.
More used to battling relegation than fighting for a European spot, Freiburg currently lie eighth and are set for the highest finish in ten years. Cisse has netted over half their tally of league goals (38) and his efforts haven't gone unnoticed.
"We're talking to a lot of big clubs in all countries - Germany, England, Spain, Italy - but we are totally relaxed because he just has to play out the season," says his agent Guido Nikolay. "After that, I think we'll find a solution which is very good for the club and for the player."
So where next - where would the player himself like to go?
"If I leave Germany, England wouldn't be bad but for the moment I don't know," he told me, adding that playing for a Champions League side is his desire. "I want to show people what I am capable of doing at that level."
Aiming for both England and the Champions League - could the reported interest from Arsenal thus have some serious legs?
This week, Freiburg confirmed that official transfer requests have already been made for Cisse, with the club having already turned down one major offer after Wolfsburg offered 12m Euros in January.
15m Euros seems to be a more realistic figure for what Freiburg will accept for a player under contract until 2014 and for whom they paid their record amount, albeit just 1.6m Euros, in late 2009.
This was a fortune for cash-strapped Freiburg - but they'll deserve their profit after transforming a player who was often used as a second striker while at Metz.
"The difference this year is that I have the confidence of my team-mates and coach, which means we can do a lot together," says the Senegalese. "I also give everything to make sure the team is in a good way because if my team-mates are on form, then the team will be too.
"That makes my job easier, so I've become someone who doesn't find scoring too goals too difficult."
Confidence aside, the more offensive style of German football also suits Cisse's game - which really took off at Freiburg following the departure of the man they previously looked to for goals, the wholly erratic Cameroonian Mohammadou Idrissou.
So assuming he does end up playing Champions League football, does Cisse have the game to succeed?
"For sure," says Rene Kuebler of Freiburg newspaper Badische Zeitung. "He's not only a goalscorer but he's also fast, good at build-up and a team player. He doesn't lose the ball very often either. He's made a big step forward and I think he can now play anywhere, because he's physically stronger than he was a year ago."
Cisse celebrates his penalty against Hoffenheim, the goal that equalled Tony Yeboah's long-standing African record in Germany and took him clear at the top of the Bundesliga scoring charts
Internationally, a player with a good shot, useful left foot and decent volley boasts eight goals from just seven games and if this all sounds too good to be true, so does his character.
"For me, he is the perfect African player in Europe," adds Kuebler. "He's always laughing and smiling, and has never made any problems since he's been at the club. He's quiet, kind and doesn't behave as if he's special. His only bad point is that he's probably leaving!"
He's also very humble. When I asked him to define his strengths, he simply replied - 'my team-mates' - but lurking beneath this respectful demeanour is a fierce competitor.
One weakness is his tendency to pick up too many yellow cards, which Cisse blames on his will-to-win - for this single-minded Senegalese has his sights set firmly on the top.
"After the Eto'o/Drogba generation ends, there'll be a new generation of top Africans in Europe - and I'm working hard to be one of them," he says. "I hope to be one of the best, and that would bring me great pleasure."
As it will to whoever manages to secure his signature in the summer.
