Soccerstarz – Cheick Tioté Figurine (Newcastle United)

Cheick Ismael Tiote is an Ivorian footballer who plays for Premier League club Newcastle United and the Ivory Coast national team. He has been described as a "tough tackling defensive midfielder."

His name is frequently misspelled as "Cheik", but the player himself confirmed to the Newcastle Evening Chronicle newspaper that the correct spelling is "Cheick".

Newcastle United

Tiote joined English Premier League side Newcastle United on 26 August 2010 for a fee of 3.5 million after he was granted a work permit. He made his debut on 18 September 2010 against Everton at Goodison Park. His debut was very successful - completing all of his 64 passes. He also made two interceptions, completed all five of his attempted tackles, and his only shot was on target. He started all of the rest of the Magpies' games, putting in strong performances against Manchester City and in the 2-1 away win over West Ham. Tiots received man of the match for his performance in the 1-0 away victory against Wigan Athletic.

He was sent off in the 3rd Round FA Cup tie against Stevenage suffering a three match domestic ban, but scored a memorable first goal on his return, scoring a 25-yard volley for the late equaliser in a 4-4 draw against Arsenal, a game the Magpies trailed 0-4 at half time.

On 25 February 2011 Newcastle United announced that Tiote had signed a new six-and-a-half year contract to show his commitment to the club, keeping him at Newcastle until 2017. Upon signing his new deal, Tiote said 'The experience of playing in the Premier League has been better than I ever hoped it could be. This is a great club and the fans have been brilliant - I have never known support like it.