REAL MADRID are to press ahead in their pursuit of Newcastle United winger Albert Luque - with the Magpies amazingly ready to bring up Jonathan Woodgate's name in any negotiations.

Newcastle have maintained in recent weeks that they are unwilling to offload their £9.5m summer acquisition at this stage, having never seen him in full flow after a serious hamstring injury.

But sources in Spain are insistent the Madrid giants, desperately seeking a turnaround in fortunes, have made Luque one of their top targets when the January transfer window opens.

Such is Real's determination to land the left-winger, who is also a Spanish international with hopes of playing in next summer's World Cup finals, they are prepared to offer midfielder Thomas Gravesen in exchange.

Gravesen, prior to moving to the Bernabeu from Everton, was regularly tracked by former Newcastle boss Sir Bobby Robson but Graeme Souness is already well blessed with numbers in midfield.

But, with Newcastle's defence still leaking goals for fun, Souness and St James' Park chairman Freddy Shepherd are exploring the possibility of taking Woodgate back to Tyneside in a sensational move.

Shepherd has never tried to hide the fact he would like the Middlesbrough-born centre-back to head back to the club he left in August last year at some stage of his playing career.

With Woodgate still struggling to regain full fitness in the Spanish capital, Newcastle could be ready to suggest a loan deal involving the England defender. The switch would, on paper, suit all parties.

Woodgate, who has struggled to overcome hamstring and back problems since his £13.4m move, is desperate to prove his fitness in an attempt to force his way into Sven-Goran Eriksson's World Cup plans.

Real are keen to see the centre-back rediscover the form that persuaded them to pay such a hefty transfer fee, while Newcastle are in urgent need of a consistent performer at the heart of the defence.

It remains to be seen whether a temporary Woodgate switch back to St James' would signal the end of Luque's short, four-month stay in the North-East.

When Real do make an official approach for the former Deportivo La Coruna man he is sure to be tempted by the prospect of playing with Raul, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and Robinho in La Liga.

And, with Newcastle likely to rebuff an £8m-plus Gravesen deal, the likelihood of Woodgate returning to the Premiership, albeit on loan, could increase greatly.

Souness, who is happy with his midfield options provided they can all stay fit, is likely to have one of his summer buys back in the thick of things at Tottenham tomorrow lunch-time.

The New Year's Eve trip to White Hart Lane could come at exactly the right time for Turkish midfielder Emre to return to the fold.

He would have missed Wednesday's postponed game with Charlton anyway, but could be back in a Newcastle shirt in North London after shaking off his hamstring niggle.

While the calling off of Charlton's visit appears to have been to the gain of Emre, the Addicks have let it be known that they are far from happy with the way the game fell to the weather.

Despite the club's 600-mile round trip, inbetween Christmas and New Year, the match was postponed only 25 minutes prior to the scheduled kick-off.

And an angry Charlton chief executive Peter Varney said: "It is astonishing that there was not one gritting lorry in sight in a city the size of Newcastle that has a Premiership stadium that attracts 52,000 fans.

"It took us 20 minutes to go about half a mile and there were cars sliding past us backwards. We will write to the council to ask how it can be that a Premiership match can be called off not because of the pitch but because of the roads."

Meanwhile, Lee Bowyer has had his appeal to have his red card at Liverpool rescinded thrown out by the Football Association.

Bowyer, who was sent off for serious foul play for a foul on Xabi Alonso, will now miss the trip to Tottenham, Middlesbrough's visit to St James' on January 2 and the FA Cup tie with Mansfield.

* Portsmouth's former Newcastle striker Lomana LuaLua has been charged with improper conduct for comments he made about referee Uriah Rennie after their defeat by Tottenham on December 12.

The Congo international laid into Rennie after the official awarded a controversial penalty with five minutes to go at White Hart Lane with the score at 1-1 in Harry Redknapp's first match back as manager.

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