GRAEME Souness has warned Patrick Kluivert he must 'shape up or ship out' after confirming that the Dutch international is playing for his future at St James' Park.

Kluivert signed a three-year deal when he joined Newcastle from Barcelona this summer, but it has since emerged that the final two years of the deal are optional on both sides.

If Souness is not satisfied with Kluivert's contribution between now and May, he is perfectly entitled to rip up the contract and end his time on Tyneside.

Despite showing sporadic signs of his quality in the past four months, the 28-year-old has scored just once since the end of September.

Take the two wins over Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin out of the equation and Kluivert has managed just three goals in 15 games.

Souness insists that he remains satisfied with the striker's all-round contribution. But if the statistics do not improve, he will not shy away from making tough decisions at the end of the season.

"We're in a performance business and, if you don't perform, you get shown the door," said the United boss, who has cancelled today's scheduled disciplinary hearing at the FA after pleading guilty to a charge of improper conduct.

"We're all very aware of that," he added.

"We will make a decision (about Kluivert) at the end of the season and that will be about results.

"It will be about where we are and what he's done -- those are the hard facts of the business we're in.

"He will be judged on goals - that's the price on the ticket if you're a striker.

"The hardest place to play football is up front. The hardest job in football is to score goals, that's why transfer fees have always been so high for strikers.

"They're the ones who are judged in black and white terms - how many games played, how many goals scored - and they're the ones who consistently have statistics thrown at them."

Kluivert is carrying a slight hamstring niggle ahead of tomorrow's home game with Portsmouth. But despite the return of Alan Shearer, he is expected to start alongside the United skipper providing he is fully fit.

That would be his 16th start for the Magpies and, while he might have won the European Cup at the age of 18, the former Ajax, AC Milan and Barcelona star would not be the first big-name player to have taken time to adapt to the hurly-burly of Premiership life.

Arsenal striker Thierry Henry famously flopped in his first six months at Highbury, and Souness expects Kluivert to enjoy a similar improvement over the second half of the season.

"I think he'd be disappointed that he hasn't scored more goals for us," admitted the Scot. "But he's very popular among the players and he's a delight to watch in training.

"I love working with top players and I certainly regard him as a top player.

"Look at the top players at Arsenal - Henry, Pires, Ljungberg - they all took a good year to work out what our football was all about.

"How many games has Patrick played now? He's not played that many and, even though he's an experienced player, it will take time for the penny to drop.

"When that happens though, I think he'll be a super player at this level."

After last weekend's disinterested display at Chelsea, many Newcastle fans have been questioning the desire of a player reported to be picking up a weekly pay packet of some £67,000.

"The only question mark I have against Patrick is how much he really wants it," agreed Souness. "The quality is as good as anybody you want to name - not just in English football, but anywhere in the world.

"Keeping Patrick motivated is a challenge. We know he needs to retain his hunger but, ultimately, that has to come from within."

* Souness has cooled his interest in Portuguese international Jorge Andrade after watching the centre-half ship five goals on Wednesday night.

The Newcastle boss was at The Riazor to watch Andrade's Deportivo La Coruna side slump to a 5-0 defeat to Monaco.

Newcastle have also been linked with Andrade's team-mate, Cesar Martin, but the Spanish international was suspended for Wednesday's game.

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