If Enrique does leave........

Much of the speculation with regard to players leaving Newcastle United from now until the end of the summer will no doubt surround Jose Enrique.

Not much needs to be said about the performances of the lad as he has been outstanding for the last 18 months or so. He has been one of the top performers at NUFC this season and has quite rightly, although also annoyingly, attracted some interest from other clubs.

To some it is a foregone conclusion that Enrique will be off in the summer. There is a feeling that with Jose holding all the cards with regard to any transfer/contract negotiations due to him approaching the last year of his current deal. This is a valid concern that was only perpetuated further with the recent interview that Enrique gave to the Spanish press where he suggested that he could be looking to leave in the summer and may not sign a new deal at Newcastle.

Then there is the other side of coin, which I sit on at the moment. That interview was taken wildly out of context by the English press who chose to publish selective parts of the interview. However, when you read the full interview it came across as nothing like what was represented by our press. I can speak Spanish to a point, but the interview has been translated by people who can speak the lingo far better than I could and they agree that it was taken out of context. Google translate is a handy little tool, but it does only work to an extent and has a tendency to translate literally whilst ignoring the various different verbs and sentencing structures that other languages may have.

Whatever side of the fence you stand on there is an argument and a counter-argument to back your particular viewpoint up. In Jose's defence, he has always said that he will wait to sign a new contract, even before this interview, but now I'm going to get all hypothetical though and assume that Jose Enrique will be off in the summer.

There are many clubs that have bee linked with our Spanish left-back. Manchester United had been linked, but now that Patrice Evra has signed a new deal you would have to say that they are out of any running. Liverpool continued to be linked as well, although there now appears to be some strong interest from abroad.

Barcelona and AC Milan are two teams that are apparently in the hunt for Enrique now although whether or not these rumours are the work of the creative press remains to be seen. However, if Enrique does end up leaving, and it is for a team abroad such as AC Milan or Barcelona then I will feel altogether happier about it.

Don't get me wrong, I won't be happy about him leaving as I think that in Enrique we have a player which will be able to help take us further up the league, but from a purely personal (some would say selfish, meh) point of view I would find it much easier if Jose left for a team abroad.

I could think of nothing worse than having to watch Enrique ply his trade in a Liverpool shirt next season, or at any other team in the Premier League to be fair. If he moved abroad it would be a case of 'out of sight, out of mind, plus we would have the bonus of not having to face him at least twice a season!

So what do you think? If Jose did leave, would be happier if left for a team abroad? Or do you feel that Jose deserves a chance at another Premier League team?

Your thoughts please...