Sissoko has been fantastic for the Magpies in their recent resurgence.
If Newcastle United’s dramatic transformation from running joke with a dead manager walking into one of the Premier League’s form teams and slayers of Chelsea can be narrowed down to one thing, it would have to be Alan Pardew’s decision to move French midfielder Moussa Sissoko into the centre of the park, where he has begun to control games with a potent mixture of physicality and creativity.
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It should come as no surprise, then, that some of the Premier League’s big boys have been linked with a January move for the former Toulouse man. Indeed, if Sissoko’s performance for Newcastle continue, he could well become one of the figures to define the transfer window – a player who the Premier League’s top clubs should be falling over each other to try and secure.
Sissoko is the Premier League midfielder distilled to its rawest form – dominant yet subtle, awkward yet somehow fluid. Perhaps the most obvious comparison to make would be with Yaya Toure, with both men suffering from a crude misreading of their talents as pure physicality, when in reality both rely on their touch rather than their brawn to put in controlled midfield performances.
The fact that Sissoko also has raw pace and strength to fall back in makes him doubly dangerous, however – and is why he was the best player on the pitch as Newcastle finally ended Chelsea’s long unbeaten record at Stamford Bridge yesterday. Arsenal are the club who should want him the most, such is Sissoko’s ability he has all of the minerals to have a transformative effect on an Arsenal midfield that has been far too passive this season.
It is hard to escape the feeling that what Chelsea and Jose Mourinho want, they will inevitably get, however – and it is easy to see why the Blues would be very interested in bringing Sissoko to Stamford Bridge. If there is an Achilles heel for Mourinho it is his lack of depth in central and attacking midfield – a broad spectrum of positions that can all be covered by Sissoko. Don’t be surprised if a move for Sissoko is Chelsea’s one dabble into the January transfer waters.