By Dan Thompson
January 31 2006

On the 26th August it was announced that Newcastle United had signed Spanish starlet Albert Luque from Deportivo La Coruna for £9.5m and the response of Newcastle fans who had witnessed some of his displays in the past was very positive...

ARTICLE: On the 26^th August it was announced that Newcastle United had signed Spanish starlet Albert Luque from Deportivo La Coruna for £9.5m and the response of Newcastle fans who had witnessed some of his displays in the past was very positive, there were others who were just glad to be signing anybody after a summer transfer period which had seen far more players leaving St James’ Park than arriving whilst others took the more cynical viewpoint of: “for so much money he’d better be good”.

 

It’d be fair to say that because of the Michael Owen transfer 4 days later the enormity of the Luque transfer was forgotten by many Toon supporters. He is regarded in La Liga as one of Spain’s brightest talents, with Real Madrid labelling him “the 3^rd best player in Spain.” He has scored 50 goals in one of Europe’s toughest leagues with Real Mallorca and Deportivo La Coruna, regularly producing sparkling displays. He’s also succeeded away from domestic level starting 26 games in the Champions League and scoring 6 goals. He also has featured in 2 European games this season for Deportivo, impressing in both legs as we were beaten 4-2 on aggregate. Luque also currently has 11 Spain caps to his name and 1 goal and was selected in Spain’s squad for both World Cup 2002 and Euro 2004, ahead of the likes of Arsenal’s £17.5m man Jose Antonio Reyes. In addition to that, Luque is also the proud owner of a silver medal earned at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 with Spain.

 

It was during the 2000/2001 season that the football public started to see what a good player Luque was. Following an impressive loan spell at Malaga where he started 6 times and scored 3 goals, Real Mallorca brought him back and gave him first team football. He more than repaid them by scoring 9 goals and helping Mallorca qualify for the Champions League for the first time in their history by finishing in 3^rd place. It is also worth noting that it was Luque’s goal against Hajduk Split which propelled Mallorca into the Champions League group stages. Luque’s improvement continued in the next season with him bagging 14 goals, enhancing his reputation in the process. Following his 2 appearances at World Cup 2002, he made the big move to the Riazor with Deportivo paying £10m to secure his services. Despite long periods on the bench during his first season in La Coruna, Luque still managed to bag 8 goals. Things improved during the 2003/2004 when he established himself as a first team regular, predominately playing on the left wing, and scoring 12 La Liga goals including an unforgettable effort against Real Madrid and a spectacular bicycle kick against Malaga. That season also saw Luque’s 5 goals help Deportivo progress to the semi-finals of the Champions League, beating AC Milan in the process, where they were knocked out by eventual winners FC Porto. After an appearance at Euro 2004 against Portugal, Luque enjoyed yet another successful season as he starred in a struggling Deportivo side scoring 11 goals and making 35 appearances.

 

It was this summer that, despite reported interest from Barcelona, Albert Luque signed a 5 year contract with Newcastle United. Upon arrival, Luque declared “I am looking forward to playing in this fantastic stadium alongside Alan Shearer. I’m very excited. It’s a great place to play, I know that from playing here with Deportivo. It is usually full and I’m looking forward to playing in front of the Newcastle fans.”

 

Of course, so far things have not gone to plan this season. In just his second start for the club, against Fulham, he was forced off with a hamstring injury which kept him out for 9 frustrating weeks. It was a severe injury with Graeme Souness explaining, “Of all the injuries we have had to players, his was the worst by far. His hamstring was nearly severed. It was a really, really bad injury.”

Since returning to fitness Luque’s performances have not lived up to his hefty price tag which resulted in a section of supporters surprisingly booing him off the pitch when he was substituted against Mansfield in the FA Cup. After only 6 Premiership starts, some supporters appear to have already made their minds up on the Spanish international. Many already have a negative mindset towards Spanish players after the disaster that was Elena Marcelino’s career on Tyneside, where the Spaniard signed from Real Mallorca for £6m and managed only 17 appearances in 4 years, which worked out that he’d earned well over £500,000 per game and left on extremely bad terms with everyone connected to the club. Others argue that Spanish players often fail to deliver in the Premiership and are not suited to the league using players such Enrique De Lucas, Albert Ferrer, Antonio Nunez, Raul Bravo, Josemi and to a lesser extent Fernando Morientes and Jose Antonio Reyes as examples.

A look at the bigger picture, however, would indicate that these views are both very premature and unfair on the 27 year old. Firstly, there have been Spaniards who have succeeded in the Premiership. Asier Del Horno and Xabi Alonso, albeit Basques, have added to their reputations since making the move to the Premiership whilst Luis Garcia appears a far more dangerous player in the Premiership than he ever did in La Liga. Mikel Arteta and Jose Reina have both also made good impressions at their respective clubs whilst youngster Gerard Pique is tipped to become an important player for Manchester United much in the way that Cesc Fabregas has for Arsenal.

Another valid point is that some of the best foreigners in the Premiership took a long time to settle into the pace and power of the English game. Dennis Bergkamp arrived at Highbury with a massive reputation and an expensive price tag and after a couple of months many thought Arsenal had signed a dud. Now, in 2006, he is considered one of Arsenal’s greatest ever players. The list can go on, stars like Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Didier Drogba all took time to adjust to their new surroundings.

It must be remembered that Albert Luque is a foreigner playing his trade in a brand new country with a brand new language and patience is required. Moving from the sunshine of La Coruna to the bitter winds of Newcastle would be a culture shock for anyone but settling in will have been made even more difficult by the fact that is family are all still currently living in Spain, although his girlfriend did make the move to England with him. Being forced to recover from a serious injury and then being thrown straight back into an underachieving side has made his situation even more unenviable.

Recently the tabloids have been reporting that Newcastle are keen to offload the striker and even that Luque would like to join Real Madrid. However, both the club and the player have strongly denied this. Freddy Shepherd was quick to state “Albert has only been here for a short while and the best is yet to come. Why would we consider selling a player we worked so hard to sign just four months ago?” while Luque played the stories down, saying “I’ve been linked to Real Madrid by the press throughout my career.”

It should be pointed out that unlike some former Newcastle players, Luque’s attitude has been perfect when talking to the media and has not made a single complaint about either the club’s current predicament or the fact he’s not currently a regular starter and rarely plays 90 minutes. In fact, Luque has done the opposite and recently told the media he was determined to succeed in the north-east. “I am happy to be here. I am only thinking about Newcastle because I signed here for 5 years.” The Catalan continued, “I want to do my best and prove myself to the club. I want to show what I did at Deportivo before I came here.” It is also apparent that Newcastle’s current “long ball” style of play doesn’t suit Luque’s game and he admitted he was looking forward for the some of the injured stars to return to the team, “It’s difficult when you use the long ball all the time. You have to fight in the air, but I’m used to having the ball to feet. We’ve been without Kieron Dyer, Emre and Scott Parker so we cannot play the best football and the ball to feet.” Positively, however, he adds the determined quote “Although I’m not the best in the air I will adapt, given time.”

It is clear that within the club Freddy Shepherd, Graeme Souness and Alan Murray are all fans of Luque, with all of them coming out to protect and build up the player at every opportunity. Murray even commented that Luque was “working around the clock” to improve his English, which is surely a sign of a player who plans to be here for the long term and is determined to make his career in England a success.

In conclusion, Albert Luque is a player who has the potential to light up the Premiership and be a vital member of Newcastle United’s starting XI for years to come. When his signing was announced, I leapt out of my chair and punched the air and my feelings towards the signing still haven’t changed. He has endured a terrible first half to the season where he’s experienced everything from being dropped by the national squad to having sections of the home crowd boo him. Be patient with him, support him and let’s watch him have a more impressive end to the season.

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