They call him the "Forgotten Man", but on £50,000 a week, Ashley knows very well where he is!
He earns FIVE times what Danny Simpson is on; and more than Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse ... but Alan Pardew cannot change the past, and is trying to get the best out of a player who obviously wants to forward his own career.
Xisco has come in from the cold after being recalled to the Newcastle squad for Thursday night's Europa League clash with Club Brugge. The 26-year-old Spanish striker's arrival on Tyneside in a £5.7million switch from Deportivo la Coruna in September 2008, along with that of loan signing Nacho Gonzalez, proved the final straw for then manager Kevin Keegan, who walked out days later having had little to do with the signings.
Xisco has spent much of his time at the club out on loan to Deportivo and Racing Santander and is in the final 12 months of his five-year deal.
Alan Pardew: "I don't know how much pain he has gone though, if I am honest, I have not really sat down and spoken to him about that.
"My purpose at this football club is to try to get the best out of every individual, and I am trying to do that with him.
"I am not sure if he will be included tomorrow, if I am honest, but I wanted to bring him into the group just so he felt part of it.
"He causes us no problems, he gets on with his work and we are trying to help him.
"The future for Xisco, hopefully, is a return to playing. Like all players, he wants to play and he has not really done anything wrong other than not reach the level of the first team since he has been here.
"We have tried to give him some direction and some hope that he can forward his career.
"He is a well-liked player in the group."
Source: Newcastle United Mad
Source: FOOTYMAD
