Welcome to ‘Random Premier League Chancers’, a weekly look at some of the strangest characters to have ever lined out in the English Premier League.
Typically transfers that didn’t work out and were quickly erased from the memories of most supporters, these men were the guys who’s name you heard a few times in Match Of The Day, then never heard from ever again.
This week we are taking a look at a man who was affectionately known as "Price Albert" during his spell on Tyneside, but is now only spoken about as an anecdote against signing players from La Liga, it's Albert Luque.
Albert Luque first came to the attention of Spanish football fans with an impressive spell at Malaga on loan from RCD Mallorca, who had picked him up when he was released by Barcelona's academy. Having been born in Catalonia, Luque always dreamt of playing for Barca, but he would have to leave his boyhood club in order to prove himself. Things were going great for Albert early on, having scored nine goals for Mallorca in the 2000/01 season to help the club to their first ever Champions League qualification. His performances for the Spain U20 and U21 sides were also noticed, and comparisons to a young Raul were often drawn early on in his career.
Luque was a surprise inclusion in the Spain squad for the 2002 World Cup, and even made a substitute appearance against the Republic of Ireland as Spain progressed on penalties in the round of 16. He would go on to earn 17 total caps for the Spanish national team.
When Deportivo La Coruna came calling late in the 2002 transfer window, Luque signed on the dotted line and completed a €15m transfer, where he would enjoy an impressive debut season netting 12 times from limited opportunities, including this excellent bicycle kick against Malaga in the last minute:
He was forced to accept a limited role behind the likes of Diego Tristan for Deportivo, until the 03/04 season where he established himself as a starter. While not a consistent goal-getter at Depor, Luque's all-round play was commended and he earned a repuration as a good team-player. In 2004 he no doubt enjoyed one of the highlights of his career as he competed with Jason Byrne for this header in a Champions League qualifier against Shelbourne:
Albert Luque was seen as somewhat of a vanity signing by Newcastle when he completed a £9m move to St.James' Park on August 27, 2005, as the club already had Alan Shearer, Michael Owen, Shola Ameobi, and Michael Chopra as first team strikers, but Luque's talent meant that he could operate in a number of different roles for The Toon. Apparently.
Luque made his debut for Newcastle United against Manchester United, and even had a goal ruled out for offside, however, this attempted scissor-kick which at the time was met with reactions such as "At least he's brave enough to try it!" was actually a foreshadowing of his Newcastle career. A disaster.
In his second game for Newcastle, Albert Luque pulled his hamstring and would miss the majority of the season. He didn't feature again until April, where he made himself somewhat of a Newcastle cult hero by netting his only Premier League goal in a win over Sunderland in the Tyne-Wear derby, but it's worth remembering just how awful Sunderland were at that time. The season ended, and Luque's first year in England had been a massive disappointment.
Glenn Roeder was now Newcastle boss, and it quickly became clear that the Spaniard didn't feature in his plans, as he was limited to strutting his stuff in the Intertoto Cup, a bizarre competition that Newcastle ended up winning in 2006. When Sam Allardyce took over in 2007, he insisted that Luque would be given a genuine chance to impress, despite giving his #7 shirt to Joey Barton. Luque opted to take the #19 shirt, which had been vacated by Titus Bramble.
On August 25, 2007, almost exactly two years after he signed a 5-year deal with Newcastle, Albert Luque was off to Ajax in an attempt to resurrect his career.
Luque scored twice on his Ajax debut, but limped off injured. Again injuries were causing him problems, although he also butted heads with one or two of his team-mates, including a half time altercation with a certain Luis Suarez during a match against Feyenoord. Both players were substituted as a result, and after making just 16 appearances, Ajax decided to cut Luque's contract short with this statement from Danny Blind:
Ajax has told Luque that he has to leave the club. I told Albert myself that we don't want to go on with him and if I've told it to him I really don't know who else I should inform.
After failing in England and Holland, it was back to Spain for Albert Luque, and a return to Malaga where he previously enjoyed success. Here he is looking surprised that anybody showed up for his unveiling:
His first season back with Malaga was a success, as he scored eight times in 32 games to help the club qualify for the UEFA Cup. His second season was more in line with the rest of his career, as he watched mostly from the bench. The highlight of this second season was an appearance off the bench to flick Pepe in the ear for being a dick:
When Albert Luque was released by Malaga in January 2011, he retired from professional football.
He arrived on Tyneside with a big reputation, having even played for Spain in the 2002 World Cup, but after injuries and failed acrobatic attempts defined his career, he will always be remembered as a random Premier League chancer.
See also: Random Premier League Chancers: Afonso Alves
See also: Random Premier League Chancers: Eric Djemba-Djemba
See also: Random Premier League Chancers: Pascal Cygan
