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Moussa Sissoko swept into St James’ Park looking every inch like Newcastle United’s next superstar import.

With an expensive, fitted leather jacket to protect him from the biting January Tyneside air, his first proclamations were typically confident. He gave an interview with the official website about his passion for fashion – and then welcomed the natural comparison with his midfield idol Patrick Vieira.

At the risk of talking United down – and there are plenty who will do that these days – he did not look long for this parish. Sissoko looked like the real deal – and his advisor Simon Stainrod said as much at the back of the room. “He’s a Rolls Royce sort of midfielder,” he purred.

When he motored past Ashley Cole on his way to inspiring Newcastle to a memorable defeat of Chelsea in just his second game it felt like it was a case of when, not if he would be generating the sort of eye-watering offers that would force United into a quickfire sale.

Yet two-and-a-half years have passed and Sissoko remains the most curious of all Graham Carr’s transfer picks. He has been effective (in spells) and clearly worth the money that Newcastle spent extricating him from the final six months of his Toulouse contract in what was a meticulously planned transfer.

But for all that he has soared past Remy Cabella or Emanuele Riviere, there is a nagging suspicion that Newcastle aren’t getting as much as they should be from him.

This week’s interview with France Football was a case in point. Infuriating as it is to hear players talk up the possibility of a move away – and Sissoko has done it so often that it seems suspiciously like part of a greater plan to advertise his wares – the midfielder runs the risk of making himself look faintly ridiculous.

poll loading Is Moussa Sissoko Champions League quality? 1000+ VOTES SO FAR YES NO

In three successive transfer windows, the biggest hitters in England, France and the rest of Europe’s big leagues have known there is a valuation on Sissoko’s head. This summer Newcastle were early out of the blocks with their desire to keep hold of him but they felt the same about Yohan Cabaye 18 months ago. And then Paris Saint Germain forced the issue with an offer that far trumped their valuation.

Anything approaching £18m might have done the same with Sissoko. But Liverpool, Arsenal, Spurs, Milan, Paris Saint Germain and a few others were all invited to place a bid – and none got past early flirtation.

Sissoko is in many ways a model professional: rarely injured, a good trainer and seldom doing anything other than what is asked of him. But when he talks about the Champions League as if it is his natural constituency, he needs to consider why he stands virtually alone in not following Mathieu Debuchy, Cabaye, Jose Enrique, Loic Remy and Demba Ba to one of the big clubs.

From here, it looks like the reason for that is simple. Sissoko is not consistently effective enough to suggest that he will improve the squads of the very best clubs in Europe. He doesn’t score enough or influence enough to put him among the division’s best midfielders.

Sissoko can turn it on in big games – Chelsea twice, the West Ham relegation decider and Liverpool at home last season immediately spring to mind – but equally, his displays in derby games hint at a maddening inconsistency.

The problem for Sissoko when he talks about the Champions League is that his role at Newcastle is yet to be hammered out. On the right of midfield under Alan Pardew, he looked short of the zip required to supplement a rather pedestrian engine room. He looked workmanlike.

Moved into the centre, he rarely influenced games as he should. He simply wasn’t a No 10 – so what is he? Right now, Steve McClaren is giving him the right wing slot with a licence to roam centrally. It’s the role he’s played with France, where he has sometimes been chided as “Didier Deschamps’ pet” for his consistent selection in the big games.

Moussa Sissoko by numbers 11 Goals 94 Starts Soccerbase

Deployed in a role that is familiar to him and with a midfield where he is no longer required to do so much legwork, this is his biggest chance to make a serious impact at Newcastle. It is, perhaps, also his last opportunity to make a run for a club that is a fixture in the Champions League.

The trajectory of Sissoko’s Newcastle career has been far from clear and he remains an odd proposition: a Rubik’s cube of a footballer who has all the attributes while somehow managing to be less than the sum of his parts.

84 Premier League games and 10 goals is a decent return. But for someone who aspires to the Champions League, the challenge is to look a cut above a team shooting for eighth in the league. Can Sissoko really say that?

He has spoken too much about where he wants to go next – but it’s time to deal with the here and now.