But a furious Robson blasted the former Real Mallorca player, who has managed only a handful of games in a black and white shirt since his £5.8m move to England in the summer of 1999.

‘‘How dare he say what he has?’’ fumed Robson. ‘‘I am surprised he’s said this and I’m really angry with him. I will have to speak to him about this.’’

The 29-year-old Spanish international has made just 22 appearances for the Magpies, only seven of them this season, during an injury-plagued spell in the north-east.

When he has been available for selection he has at times looked something like the player for which then boss Ruud Gullit splashed out a sizeable proportion of his summer transfer kitty.

But his problems have meant he has not been an option for much of Robson’s 20-month reign to date, and the 68-year-old lost patience with him some time ago, although he has fallen short of criticising him publicly.

However, it appears that the gloves could now be off after Marcelino was reported to have said: ‘‘Sometimes I felt as if I had a lack of support and almost humiliated in the way I’ve been treated as a professional.’’

But Robson insisted that he has done everything within his powers to revitalise a player who he needed to do a job for him during an injury crisis which has continued all season.

‘‘I have been professional with him and tried to encourage him to get fit,’’ he said. ‘‘How he can complain about this club I will never, never know.’’

Marcelino arrived at St James’s Park as Gullit discarded Nicos Dabizas and Alessandro Pistone following the disappointment of FA Cup final defeat by Treble winners Manchester United.

He invested heavily in his rearguard, bringing Marcelino and Frenchmen Alain Goma and Franck Dumas into the club at a total cost of around £11m.

Goma and Dumas have since returned to France, but both made more of an impact during their short time at the club than their Spanish counterpart.

Robson was quick to bring Dabizas and Pistone in from the cold when he took over from the Dutchman in September 1999, but after selling the Italian, Steve Howey and Laurent Charvet last summer, a severe injury to Dabizas two games into the current season depleted his defensive resources once again.

Marcelino was unable to grab his chance to establish himself in the starting line-up and it was instead left to young Northern Ireland international Aaron Hughes and Goma to hold the fort, which they did largely to good effect until the Frenchman left for Fulham as deadline day approached.

United invested £1million in Bradford’s Andy O’Brien in the wake of that move and with Dabizas now back in harness it seems inevitable that Marcelino’s time in England will end sooner rather than later.

But Robson will be desperate to recoup as much cash as he can for a man whose saleable value has plummeted in the last two years.