José Enrique Sánchez Díaz (born 23 January 1986), known as José Enrique, is a Spanish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. Starting his career with Levante, José Enrique was signed by their rivals

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

and made

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

appearances for

Celta Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues) ...

and

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

. He then spent nine years in England with

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, totalling 161

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

appearances. With the latter club, he won the

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

and lost the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

final in 2012. He retired through injury in 2017, after a year back in Spain with

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...

Club career

Early life and career

José Enrique was born in

. He began his football career at hometown club Levante before being acquired by rivals

, who sent him to

for a season-long

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

. At the conclusion of this loan spell, he was signed by

in 2006.

Newcastle United

On 6 August 2007, José Enrique signed for English

club

for a fee believed to be £6.3 million. He signed a five-year contract with the club. He made his Newcastle debut on 29 August against

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

in which he played the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 victory, and his Premier League debut as a substitute against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

on 23 September. José Enrique's performances were rewarded when he was made the official Newcastle United Player of the Season for 2009–10, voted for by the fans. He also achieved the accolade of being named in the

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

alongside Newcastle teammates

Fabricio Coloccini Fabricio Coloccini (; ; born 22 January 1982) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Coloccini began his club career at Boca Juniors in his native Argentina attracting the attention of A.C. Milan. He faile ...

Kevin Nolan Kevin Anthony Jance Nolan (born 24 June 1982) is an English former professional footballer and current first team coach for Premier League club West Ham United. He has represented England at under-21 level. After growing up in Toxteth, Liver ...

and

Andy Carroll Andrew Thomas Carroll (born 6 January 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Championship side Reading. He has played in the Premier League and English Football League for Newcastle United, Preston North End, Liv ...

. José Enrique scored his only goal for the club in a 2–0 league win over

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

on 29 March 2010. He made 36 Premier League appearances for Newcastle in the 2010–11 season.

Liverpool

On 12 August 2011, José Enrique signed for Liverpool for a reported fee of £6 million. He made his debut two days later in Liverpool's first game of the

2011–12 Premier League The 2011–12 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 20th season of the Premier League since its establishment in 1992. The season began on 13 August 2011 and ended on 13 May 2012 with Manchester Ci ...

season, starting in a 1–1 draw against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. On 26 February 2012, he helped Liverpool win the

2012 Football League Cup Final The 2012 Football League Cup Final was a football match between Cardiff City and Liverpool on 26 February 2012 at Wembley Stadium, London. It was the final match of the 2011–12 Football League Cup, the 52nd season of the Football League Cup, ...

against

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

, their first honour since 2006. On 1 April, he was forced to play as a goalkeeper for the remaining 13 minutes of the match against his old club Newcastle after

Pepe Reina José Manuel "Pepe" Reina Páez (; born 31 August 1982) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Villarreal. The son of famed Barcelona and Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina, Pepe Reina began his ca ...

was sent off for headbutting

James Perch James Robert Perch (born 28 September 1985) is an English professional footballer who plays for Mansfield Town. Perch is versatile and has covered many positions in both defence and across midfield. However, he is usually deployed at right back. ...

. Although José Enrique kept a clean sheet, Liverpool, being down 2–0 at the time of Reina's red card, failed to level the score. He also played in the

2012 FA Cup Final The 2012 FA Cup Final was a football match between Chelsea and Liverpool on 5 May 2012. It was the final match of the 2011–12 FA Cup, the 131st season of the world's oldest football knockout competition, the FA Cup. Chelsea were participating ...

on 5 May, a 2–1 loss to

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. On 17 November 2012, in a league match against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

, José Enrique scored his first goal for Liverpool in the 65th minute, having been increasingly reinvented as a

left wing-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

in a 3–5–2 formation under manager

Brendan Rodgers Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Leicester City. Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed un ...

. On 1 October 2014, he made his

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

debut for Liverpool against

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

in Switzerland, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 defeat. In his final three seasons at Liverpool, José Enrique made only 21 total appearances, 12 of which were in the league. He was hampered by a persistent injury to his right knee, and the side-effects of medication to deal with it. He captained the club in his final appearances, against

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

in the FA Cup in January 2016. José Enrique was released by Liverpool at the end of the 2015–16 season.

Real Zaragoza

On 7 September 2016, José Enrique signed for

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

club

on a two-year contract. He made his debut on 8 October, playing the full 90 minutes of a 2–1 loss away to

Sevilla Atlético Sevilla Atlético is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1950, it is the reserve team of Sevilla FC. It plays in Segunda Federación, and holds home games ...

, and scored his first goal on 5 November in a 2–2 draw away to

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

. On 6 September 2017, José Enrique announced his retirement from football due to a persistent knee injury.

Personal life

José Enrique was diagnosed with

chordoma Chordoma is a rare slow-growing neoplasm thought to arise from cellular remnants of the notochord. The evidence for this is the location of the tumors (along the neuraxis), the similar immunohistochemical staining patterns, and the demonstration ...

, a rare brain tumour, in May 2018. On 23 June 2018, he announced that he was recovering from surgery to remove a brain tumour. He stated, "I am now in recovery and so thankful. Life is too precious." In April 2019, he received the all-clear.

Career statistics

Honours

Newcastle United *

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

: 2009–10 Liverpool *

: 2011–12 *

runner-up: 2011–12 Individual *

: 2009–10 Championship * Newcastle Player of The Year: 2010

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jose Enrique 1986 births Living people Footballers from Valencia Spanish footballers Association football defenders Atlético Levante UD players Valencia CF players RC Celta de Vigo players Villarreal CF players Newcastle United F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Real Zaragoza players Segunda División B players La Liga players Premier League players English Football League players Segunda División players FA Cup Final players Spain youth international footballers Spain under-21 international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Outfield association footballers who played in goal