Defender Fabricio Coloccini insists he is "100 percent" committed to Newcastle despite speculation linking him with a move away from St James' Park.
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The Argentine has been at the Toon since 2008 but personal issues have cast serious doubt over his future in English football with reports suggesting a move back to his homeland may be on the cards before the January transfer window closes on Thursday evening.
However, Alan Pardew's club captain has quashed these reports and says he is fully focussed on the Magpies and will stay in the North East until at least the end of the season.
"The last few weeks there has been a lot of talk about my future," he told the club website. "But I am staying here. And of course I will give 100 percent like I always do.
"I have been here five years and Newcastle has given me a lot and done a lot for me. I have to be true to the club. I will give 100 percent. I love football and once I am on the pitch it is different. The problems I have are outside the pitch."
A letter drafted by the 31-year-old to Argentine club San Lorenzo saying that he was "sad" to not have been granted permission to return to South America cast some doubt amongst fans, but the former Boca Juniors man insists he is fully committed to the club.
"I heard in the city and around the club that the fans think I have my head elsewhere thinking about other things, or that I am not the same player as last season.
"The fans have to know and be sure that when I am on the field I give 100 percent. I am the captain of the team and I take the responsibility.
"I think everybody has problems outside of their work in life. It is difficult but now I am here and all I have in my head is to make sure we are in the Premier League next year. That is my only objective.
"I am alone here with my family. We don't have grandparents here or uncles and aunties. It does make it difficult. Not for me personally, because I come to work every day, but for my kids and wife.
"Here though, the club and the fans are my family at the moment. The love that they give to me with my song and on the pitch for me is fantastic. It's the best present they can give me," he said.
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