Premiership star Djibril Cissé arrested outside lap-dancing club after 'grabbing woman by throat'

Premiership soccer star Djibril Cissé was arrested outside a lap-dancing bar yesterday after allegedly grabbing a woman by the throat.

Sunderland striker Cissé, 27, was thought to have got into a heated row at 3am with the woman, who has not been named. The star, who earns £60,000 a week at Sunderland, is thought to have visited the club, which specialises in fully nude and topless dancing and private performances in booths, before leaving just before 3 am.

Police quizzed the striker at a station near to the Diamonds club in Newcastle before he was released early yesterday morning on bail while they investigate further. A Northumbria police spokesman said: "A 27-year-old man was arrested for an assault. He was questioned before being bailed pending further inquiries."

The former Liverpool striker is fighting for his future at Sunderland. He is on loan from Marseilles, who want £10million for him at the end of the season. But the Frenchman, whose body is covered with more than 40 tattoos with some dedicated to his wife and three children, has yet to convince club bosses he is worth the fee.

He married former £300-a-week Liverpool hairdresser Jude Littler in June, 2005, at Bodelwyddan Castle in North Wales, surrounded by soccer star friends.

Neither the player, who owns a shop in Newcastle called The Pr9ject, nor Sunderland were available to comment yesterday.

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