 Luque as anAjax player in 2007 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Albert Luque Martos[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1978-03-11)11 March 1978 (age 47)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Terrassa, Spain | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | |||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1985–1991 | Can Parellada | ||||||||||||||||
| 1991–1996 | Barcelona | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1996–1997 | Barcelona C | ||||||||||||||||
| 1997–1999 | Mallorca B | 62 | (25) | ||||||||||||||
| 1999–2002 | Mallorca | 67 | (24) | ||||||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | →Málaga (loan) | 23 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2005 | Deportivo La Coruña | 101 | (26) | ||||||||||||||
| 2005–2007 | Newcastle United | 21 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2007–2009 | Ajax | 16 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | →Málaga (loan) | 32 | (8) | ||||||||||||||
| 2009–2011 | Málaga | 19 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 341 | (92) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1998–2000 | Spain U21 | 13 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2000 | Spain U23 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2005 | Spain | 17 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2006 | Catalonia | 3 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Albert Luque Martos (born 11 March 1978) is a Spanish formerfootballer who played as aleft winger orstriker.
His 14-year professional career was mainly associated withMallorca andDeportivo, and he amassedLa Liga totals of 248 matches and 61 goals over 11 seasons. He also had spells in the EnglishPremier League withNewcastle United and the DutchEredivisie withAjax.
ASpain international in the first half of the 2000s, Luque represented the nation at the2002 World Cup andEuro 2004.
Born inTerrassa,Barcelona,Catalonia,[2] Luque was a lifelong supporter ofFC Barcelona, and started out in football on trial with them, but was released by theC team when he was 19.[3] He was then taken byRCD Mallorca and assigned totheir reserves, but eventually broke into the main squad after a successful loan spell atMálaga CF.[4]
In2000–01, Luque scored nine goals for Mallorca, helping theBalearic Islands sidequalify for theUEFA Champions League for the first time in their history after finishing third. Hisextra time goal in the third qualifying round againstHNK Hajduk Split carried the team into the first group stage.[5][6]
Luque was transferred toDeportivo de La Coruña on 29 August 2002, in an eight-year deal worth€15 million (approximately£10 million), for strikersJosé Flores andWalter Pandiani (on loan).[7] In hisfirst season atDepor, he scored the winner against former club Málaga with abicycle kick,[8] adding further goals in 2–1 victories overRacing de Santander[9] andRCD Espanyol;[10] he netted seven times inLa Liga during the campaign, mostly fromsubstitute appearances.[11]
2003–04 saw Luque firmly established as a starter, as he scored the winner againstRosenborg BK in theChampions League qualifying round, the only goal over both legs.[12] He also netted in the knockout stages againstJuventus FC[13] andAC Milan,[14] and added 11 more on the domestic front in hisfinal year inGalicia.[15]
On 27 August 2005, Luque was sold toNewcastle United for a fee of £9 million, signing a five-year contract.[16] He made his debut againstManchester United atSt James' Park, which included having a goal ruled out foroffside.[17] However, in his next game, he suffered ahamstring injury while playing atFulham;[18] upon his return he was used in a number of roles, includingleft midfielder, failing to live up to his large price tag.[19][20]
On 17 April 2006, Luque scored his first goal for Newcastle in theTyne–Wear derby, when he broke free from theSunderland defence and chipped the ball overKelvin Davis.[21] He commented after the match that he hoped to score before the end ofthe season, but played no part in the remaining fixtures, however.
Luque's first competitive home goal came againstLillestrom S.K. at the start of the team'sUEFA Intertoto Cuptournament[22]– he added two in a 4–1 defeat ofLiverpool's reserves in October.[23] After having fallen low in the side's attacking pecking order, a number of injuries awarded him a start againstSerie A table-toppersU.S. Città di Palermo on 2 November, in theUEFA Cup, and rewarded managerGlenn Roeder's choice scoring the game's only goal with a header.[24] After that, however, the player had few significant first-team appearances, by now behind the likes of youth graduateMatty Pattison;[25] in the January 2007transfer window he was linked with a loan move toPSV Eindhoven, but the deal fell through in spite of his wishes.[26]
On 23 June 2007, newMagpies managerSam Allardyce stated that he would be willing to give Luque a proper chance to impress. However, this did not prevent the former from awarding the latter's number 7 shirt to new signingJoey Barton, which initially left the Spaniard without a squad number.[27][28] He was eventually given the number 19 jersey he previously wore at Deportivo, and whichTitus Bramble last used at Newcastle.[29]
His transfer from Deportivo to Newcastle is one of those about which theStevens inquiry report in June 2007 expressed concerns:
"There remains inconsistencies in evidence provided byGraeme Souness – a former manager of the club"
"The inquiry still has unanswered questions relating to possible payments made by agent Francis Martin, who Newcastle officials believed was working for the selling club."[30] At the end of the next month,AFC Ajax agreed a fee to sign Luque.[31]
On 25 August 2007, Ajax confirmed they had signed Luque until 2010.[32] On 30 September, he scored his first two goals for theAmsterdam team, turning the scoreline around in two minutes againstVVV-Venlo in an eventual 6–1 home win but coming out injured slightly afterwards.[33]
Luque was fined after a game withFeyenoord in November 2007 for a half-time altercation in the changing rooms with teammateLuis Suárez, which caused managerAdrie Koster tosubstitute them both before the second half.[34][35] It was reported in July 2008 that the former had no future at Ajax; technical directorDanny Blind toldSportweek: "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."[36][37]
Just before the 1 September transfer deadline of2008–09, Luque signed a one-year loan deal with Málaga, returning toAndalusia nine years after his loan spell at the club.[38] On 30 November 2008, he came from the bench to open his scoring account in his second spell, in a 4–2 home victory overCA Osasuna,[39] and was a crucial attacking element as the club fought for UEFA Cup qualification until the final days of the season.
On 30 July 2009, after lengthy negotiations, Málaga signed Luque from Ajax on afree transfer.[40] Under new coachJuan Ramón López Muñiz, he played mainly from the bench and scored only once in the first half ofthe campaign, thereafter being dropped for almost a month;[41][42] after returning to first-team action, he replacedDuda in the 85th minute of a 3–0 win at Racing Santander.[43]
In2010–11, Luque continued to be absent from Málaga's lineups, both underJesualdo Ferreira and his successorManuel Pellegrini. In December 2010, he was deemed surplus to requirements alongside five other players,[44] with his release confirmed on 4 January 2011.[45]
Luque represented Spain at the2000 Summer Olympics, playing twice as the national teamwon silver in Sydney.[46] After a successful season at Mallorca, stilluncapped for thesenior team, he was called up to the squad for the2002 FIFA World Cup, making his international debut in a 3–2 group stage win againstSouth Africa on 12 June 2002,[47] and also appeared in theround-of-16 victory over theRepublic of Ireland.[48]
Two years later, Luque played atUEFA Euro 2004,[49] being used as aleft winger in the 1–0 defeat to hostsPortugal.[50] His last game was on 7 September 2005, in a2006 World Cup qualifier againstSerbia and Montenegro.[51]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 October 2004 | El Sardinero,Santander, Spain |  Belgium | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2006 World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 4 June 2005 | Mestalla,Valencia, Spain |  Lithuania | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2006 World Cup qualification |
On 29 April 2019, Luque joined presidentLuis Rubiales' staff at theRoyal Spanish Football Federation.[53] In December 2022, he was appointed as itssporting director in place ofJosé Francisco Molina, following a last-16 elimination at the2022 World Cup.[54]
In 2023, Luque was named as a defendant in theRubiales affair case, as he was accused of being among those who coerceJenni Hermoso to reduce her pressure on Rubiales following the controversial kiss she received from Rubiales after winning the2023 Women's World Cup.[55][56][57] Although he was not part of the coaching staff, it was determined that he sought to reduce pressure on Rubiales and his status in the case would be upgraded from witness to suspect on 27 September.[58][59] Despite his denial, evidence was shown that he used hisWhatsApp account to try to get a friend of the player to convince her to reduce pressure on the chairman.[55][56]
In November 2006, while driving toNewcastle International Airport for a UEFA Cup game away toEintracht Frankfurt, Luque pulled hisPorsche Cayenne over due to a puncture. Shortly after he got out the car to make a telephone call, the empty vehicle was struck by a lorry and destroyed. He managed to get a flight to Germany and played in the match.[60][61][62]
Newcastle United
Spain U23
Spain squads | |||||||||||||
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