Albert Luque talked to the Evening Chronicle yesterday, mainly about our new signing 21 year-old Jose Enrique (born January 1986), but also about his groin injury, which unfortunately reared up again in the game against Gateshead.
We notice that Luque seems much happier at Newcastle this season and that’s probably due to a number of factors, he’s recently married and of course Big Sam is now guiding him in his football – hopefully back to his very best.
 We’ll take a look at what Albert had to say about our new signing, nicknamed the bull is Spain.
Albert Luque scoring against Juventus and Jose Enrique arriving at Newcastle
Albert told the Newcastle Evening Chronicle yesterday afternoon:
“I would like to welcome Jose to Newcastle.â€
“I will help him settle in the area and if I can do anything for him, I will.”“I can understand why the Villarreal fans are upset that he has gone.”
“But I spoke with him for over an hour when he arrived about everything.”
Villareal fans have been upset that Villareal let their young bull go – but in reality it would have been difficult for them to have turned down the £6.3M offer from Newcastle. That’s a good sign for Newcastle that we may have a really good player on our hands.
Albert went on:
“I don’t think he will have any problems in the Premiership. He is a strong player and he is a good guy.â€
Jose is tipped in Spain to become the country’s next left-back, and could yet prove to be a great Sam Allardyce’s signing (yet another one). Luque followed the La Liga closely last season in his home country and says that young Enrique was one of the outstanding players.
He added:
“Last season he played very well in Spain with Villarreal and had a very good year.”
“I think he is a very good signing for Newcastle and we now have a great player on our hands.â€
Unfortunately Luque himself suffered a setback on Monday night when he was forced off with a groin injury in the 3-3 draw with Gateshead. He had come off back in the game against Juventus but it appears the groin is still troublesome. The first thing Sam has to do with Albert is to get him fit once and for all and no chances should be taken until we know he’s 100%.
Luque talked about his injury:
“I thought my groin was OK after coming off against Juventus, but after just 15 minutes I sprinted and felt a little bit of pain down there.â€
“I will have a scan to see how bad it is, but last night it did not feel good.â€
The injury doesn’t sound good but we hope Albert can still make a success of his Newcastle career after an horrendous first two years. The fact that he has taken Enrique under his wing can only help him but Albert has been injury prone and that will be another challenge for Big Sam.
But we are hoping that Big Sam’s magic will work on Albert – his attitude this season is certainly much much improved and he seems determined to make it at Newcastle.  We hope he does.
Comments very welcome.
13 comments so far
Sean
Aug 8, 2007 at 9:01 AM
Comment #1what will enrique have on the back of his shirt? enrique? or jose enrique?
Lynda
Aug 8, 2007 at 9:09 AM
Comment #2Ed, I just wanted to say ‘thank you’ for your excellent blog: it’s a wonderful round-up of the news, with some very nice analysis. Hope you can maintain it.
Hammy
Aug 8, 2007 at 9:13 AM
Comment #3ENREEKY..
D.
Aug 8, 2007 at 9:20 AM
Comment #4Ed: “Albert Luque talked to the Evening Chronicle yesterday, mainly about our new signing 21 year-old Jose Luque…” …better get that fixed. 😛
Century Radio were calling him Luis Enrique all through the Sampdoria game. Anyone remember Luis Enrique? He would’ve been legendary at our club in the mid 1990s.
Ed Harrison
Aug 8, 2007 at 9:27 AM
Comment #5Lynda – appreciate that – I’ll certainly try !
Ed Harrison
Aug 8, 2007 at 9:29 AM
Comment #6D – just checked that out – it’s Jose on our official Newcastle United site. His full name is Jose Enrique Sanchez Diaz.
Ian, Doha
Aug 8, 2007 at 9:36 AM
Comment #7Hopefully, Luque and Enrique can assist each other to build succesfull careers at Newcastle.
Luque has wasted two years on Tyneside and it’s now payback time if we can clear his groin strain and get him fit……
Enrique has the world at his feet and with regular first team football will improve in BSAs team of all-stars!
rich
Aug 8, 2007 at 9:49 AM
Comment #8Levante are sniffing around Luque according to Skysports.com, i hope Sam doesnt punt him i want to see him establish himself at the toon.
evil dick
Aug 8, 2007 at 10:15 AM
Comment #9I have to admit i have become addicted to this site! i read every new article everyday, it’s helped get through pre-season. Can’t wait for Saturday now..
Cheers Ed!
Stami
Aug 8, 2007 at 11:04 AM
Comment #10rich…i also read that report about Levante. i think at this point if it came down to Luque, he would decide to stay put! he knows a good thing when he see’s it! im sure he is feeling needed at NUFC at the moment! lets hope he doesnt go anywhere
apan
Aug 8, 2007 at 11:41 AM
Comment #11i hope luque would stay another season at least to prove his worth, his a superb player at deportivo im sure he be one too here
Lull , Malaysia
Aug 8, 2007 at 12:18 PM
Comment #12Ed, I think you got a bit of typos there, ‘Jose Luque’.Anyway I hope Jose and Luque can settle down quickly 😀 Let them be the first to signal that Spaniard can achieve success with Toon.
P/S: Toon Army! Are you ready? ( damn, i had goosebumps all over)
Ed Harrison
Aug 8, 2007 at 12:37 PM
Comment #13D, Lull – whoops I see it now – got it fixed!