Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew says the £1.8 million paid to land Moussa Sissoko from Toulouse is proving a masterstroke.

He could have got the Toulouse midfielder for nothing at the end of the season but paying the money now looks a fantastic decision after his brilliant performance against Chelsea.

Pardew revealed: "He was out of contract at the end of the season and, at the end of the season, we could perhaps have picked him up for nothing.

"I argued the case - let's do it right now, let's not mess about. We managed to do that and we've got our reward.

"You don't always know how it's going to work out with a new player but I did have a good feeling.

"Why didn't others go for him? I've no idea. The game I first saw Moussa in was 14 to 16 months ago and I walked away that night wanting to get him there and then. He's a real force of football.

"It's only two games in and hopefully we're saying the same thing in the summer, because those Chelsea players we came up against are top, top players - Oscar, Lampard, Mata.

"They are fabulous players and we had players out there who looked every bit as good as them and that's a great lift for us."