Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has insisted there is no deal in place to sell Spanish full-back Jose Enrique to Liverpool. Speculation has been rife in recent months that the former Villarreal full-back will leave Tyneside during the summer after putting talks over a new contract on hold.
Former Liverpool player and assistant manager Phil Thompson said in a television interview over the weekend he understood a deal had been done, a claim on which Newcastle were not prepared to comment.
However, Pardew, who has repeatedly spoken of his hopes of persuading the club's first-choice left-back to extend his stay at St James' Park, is adamant that is not the case.
He said: "There's definitely no deal between the clubs – 100 per cent. He's under contract here until next summer and we hope to open talks on a new deal as soon as possible. That's where we are.
"We want to keep our best players, and Jose's one of them. As far as anything being a done deal, that's not true. We want Jose to stay. Nothing's changed."
Pardew's comments are likely to do little to placate fans concerned that one of the club's most consistent players could be heading for the exit doors.
Striker Andy Carroll was ultimately prised out of the manager's grasp by Liverpool's £35million January bid after repeated assurances he was going nowhere. Indeed, Carroll had signed a new long-term contract just months earlier.
Newcastle had hoped both Enrique and midfielder Joey Barton would sign new contracts at the turn of the year, but the defender, having been linked with the likes of Bayern Munich and Milan, decided to wait until after the club's Premier League status was assured.
Barton also decided not to commit himself in the wake of Carroll's departure, preferring instead to wait for the club to persuade him of their ambition by tying up the likes of Enrique and skipper Kevin Nolan as well as targeting new signings during the summer.
The Spaniard endured a tough first couple of season on Tyneside after making a £6.3m switch from La Liga in August 2007.
However, he has developed into a genuine Premier League player and it is no surprise he has attracted the interest of prospective purchasers. The word in the north-east has been for some time that his future lies away from St James, and his retention or otherwise will represent a major test of how owner Mike Ashley's blueprint for the future is viewed within the dressing room.
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