By
November 26 2005

Albert Luque will be handed a free-roaming attacking role in the Newcastle United squad when he makes his next appearance for the club. The 27-year-old has been unable to prove his worth so far due to injury, but the Spaniard is expected to play some part of the game against Everton.

The £9.5m player is likely to be handed a bench role, while but Souness is confident the chances will come.

Souness said: "He will have freedom to roam and cause problems for the opposition.

"I see Albert as the type of player our crowd will like. He is skilful, good at set-pieces and has a rocket in his boots. I am sure he will excite the fans.

"He will be somewhere in our attacking formation and that's good enough for me.

"I am not trying to be smart, but good players work things out for themselves.

"They know where they want to go. Luque might start on the left and move to the middle, or start in the middle and drift out to the right. It all depends on what is happening in the game.

"Given time, he will make an enormous impact at Newcastle. He will make that impact this season, but he needs a few games to get going. He is extremely highly thought of in Spanish football and I am sure he will every bit as popular here."

Luque said: "I appreciate that the club have invested heavily in my services, but that sort of pressure gives me extra motivation.

"I realise the price Newcastle paid for me is quite a big one in terms of world football, but I faced a similar scenario a few years ago when I moved from Mallorca to Deportivo.

"Now I just want to get myself fit and playing again.

"If I can do that, I am sure things will be fine.

"I've had a few difficult weeks due to the injury.

"But now that I'm ready to play again, I am raring to go and eager to show what I am made of. I want to show the fans what I can do on the pitch.

"I turned up wanting to do well and, with it being a new country, I wanted to do well as quickly as I could.

"That made it especially disappointing to get such a bad injury and it spoiled the beginning of my new experience.

"Now I look forward to resuming my life.

"I will only be happy if I am doing well playing football."

On Owen, Luque added: "Everyone knew all about Michael Owen when he moved to Madrid because he had already won the Ballon D'Or (Golden Boot).

"He didn't have many opportunities at Real because they have the best players in the world, but he still did well.

"It was a surprise when he came to Newcastle but, for the team, it's great because his arrival strengthened the squad and it's a pleasure to play with him.

"I have a confession to make though.

"I have been taking English classes in my hotel on a daily basis and I already believe that I can speak better English than Michael can speak Spanish."

(Quotes from the Northern Echo)