Comolli: He's one of the best
Director of Football Damien Comolli chats to Liverpoolfc.tv about the signing of Jose Enrique, why he believes the defender is one of the league's best and the possibility of any further comings or goings at Anfield this summer.
Damien, Jose Enrique is now a Liverpool player - how pleased are you?
I am very pleased because it was an area we felt we needed to strengthen - we were a bit weak and felt we had to do something. I am very pleased to have signed arguably one of the best left-backs in the Premier League.
What sort of qualities will he bring to the team?
The first thing that comes to my mind is his pace. He is a very quick, strong and powerful athlete with good technique, as you would expect from someone who comes from Spain, and a good left foot. He will give us some size as well because he is about 6ft 1ins, which is a very good size for a full-back. So all of this and signing a player that is already in the Premier League means we know he will settle in very easily. He is good friends with Andy (Carroll) from their Newcastle days, so he ticks a lot of boxes.
How important is it that he has already played for four years in England?
It's very important. Very, very important. As I said, he knows Andy, he knows Pepe (Reina) from Spain as they used to play at the same club, Villarreal, although not at the same time. But most importantly, he knows the league and what to expect - and what to expect when you play for Liverpool Football Club. We know he is going to come in and hit the ground running.
Jose is only 25 years old - are you confident he will improve at Liverpool?
That's a discussion I've just had with him. I think one of the reasons he wanted to move here is because he thinks there is a lot more to come from him. We all think that - Kenny, myself and the coaches all think exactly the same thing. We think if he does well here, he could be a candidate for the Spanish national team as well. He is very eager for that and he is as eager as we are to play in Europe and compete for trophies.
Click the image below to watch our chat with Comolli
He's our second wide-left signing of the summer - how do you see him linking up with Stewart Downing?
He's actually our third because Charlie (Adam) is a left-sided player as well. It's something we wanted as we felt we needed more left-sided players in the squad to give Kenny some flexibility. We know Stewart can play on both sides, so it is up to Kenny who he wants Jose to play with, but we know a left-foot in that position at full-back is very interesting.
Enrique is our fifth major signing of the summer - are you pleased with the business the club have conducted?
Yes, very, very pleased but obviously we haven't started playing yet, so time will tell if we were right - but I am convinced we were right in what we wanted to do. We've strengthened all the areas we wanted to strengthen with quality. Quality players are what we wanted. I think there is a lot of debate about prices for players and transfer fees paid, not just with Liverpool but throughout the Premier League, but if we have signed a player it is because we were happy to pay the price of the transfer fee we paid. For us it is not even a debate. We are very happy to have done the business we have done, we think it makes a lot of sense from a footballing point of view and makes a lot of sense from a financial point of view. We all hope that it is going to work out on the pitch.
Could Jose be the final bit of incoming business this summer?
You can never say never, but it is likely.
And are there likely to be any departures?
Yes, it is possible. As I've said before, some players would like to have more minutes and game time. We've had a few approaches for players, so it's something we will look at.