The 26-year-old striker arrived at the Magpies' training ground on Tuesday to put the finishing touches to a switch from German outfit Freiburg.
Alan Pardew always said a central defender was top of his wish list, and this deal certainly came out of the blue.
He plays with Demba Ba in the national team and obviously Pardew feels that pairing him with his international colleague can only be good for Newcastle.
As we have seen with foreign players like Enrique, Jonas and Coloccini ... they all took a season to settle ... and it will benefit the player to have an international team-mate along side him.
They will, of course, have to wait to see that partnership in action, with both men readying themselves for Africa Cup of Nations duty.
Pardew: "Ever since Andy Carroll left, Papiss was my first choice in the specific role he has had at the end of the play.
"He is a finisher with an already-established CV in the Bundesliga, where we have monitored him for the best part of two years.
"Unfortunately he was out of reach, financially, for us in the summer, but it recently became apparent that Derek Llambias (managing director) and Lee Charnley (club secretary) could do the deal in this window.
"I spoke to Demba about Papiss, and he cannot wait to join up with his team-mate in Newcastle."
Upon completing talks with Newcastle, Cisse was whisked away and jetted back to Africa to re-join the Senegal squad.
He netted 22 times last season and has already scored nine goals this term. He will wear the famous number nine shirt at Newcastle one worn by greats such as Jackie Milburn, Malcolm MacDonald and Alan Shearer.
Before leaving, Cisse said: "I am aware of the huge importance of the number nine shirt, and when I spoke with the manager he made it very clear how important this shirt is. I will treat it with respect."