The striker cost Newcastle £9.5m from Deportiva La Coruna with a big reputation, but like so many foreign players before him (Marcelino, Hugo Viana, Christiano Bassedas, Diego Gavilan, Daniel Cordone, etc) he has struggled to settle in the north-east.
French outfit Bordeaux and Spanish club Real Mallorca are two who would love to take him, but cannot afford either his transfer fee or his wages. The list grows of clubs "interested" grows week by week, but no firm offers have reached chairman Freddy Shepherd.
Although no quote has come direct from the player, one newspaper reports a Spanish source close to the player said: "Albert is keeping quiet about his future at the moment. But I do know he is just getting his head down and trying to get back into the Newcastle team.
"When the transfer window comes up again he will probably see where he is at. There's a chance he could return to Spain in the new year, with a couple of clubs willing to bring him back to La Liga."
Nothing new there then. Speculation and nothing more.