Barça interested in José Enrique?

According to Catalan paper Mundo Deportivo, Barça are showing interest in left-back José Enrique, hoping to bring the current Newcastle player back to Spain.

Barcelona has ‘rediscovered’ José Enrique Sánchez. Born in Valencia in 1986, Enrique (1.84 m., 76 kgs) was a rising star during his younger days. The player, now 25, has spent four seasons at Newcastle in England. Enrique is better-known in England than in Spain, having only played 38 games in la Liga before joining the ‘Magpies’ in 2007. An international at U-21 level, the player moved from Levante B to Valencia, with whom he did not play any official matches, then spent a few months on loan at Celta de Vigo. A move to Villarreal became a turning point, and after 23 games the ‘Yellow Submarine’s’ investment of 4 million euros was doubled with an 8 million euro move to Newcastle. Now, with one year left on his contract, José Enrique, ‘El Toro’, a nickname given him by Atletico’s Juanfran while together in the Spain U-21′s, is being linked with big clubs like Bayern, Liverpool, Lyon and Barcelona. He is a proper defender, very powerful, determined, intense, good with the ball at this feet and also good in the center of defense. He doesn’t score often, only 2 goals in 175 games, but this is also not the strong point of Eric Abidal, who is venerated at the Camp Nou.

The paper also points out that when asked to choose between Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi, José Enrique was clear: “Without doubt, Messi. I faced him and between Cristiano and Messi, I would sign Messi, of course. He has all the conditions to be the best footballer in history.” A good start from ‘The Bull’.