Alan Pardew has underlined his desire to keep José Enríque in the summer, but the Scousers are sniffing about again, and doubts grow as to whether the Spaniard intends to sign a new contract.
Talks to extend a contract which will have only 12 months left to run at the end of the season have been postponed at the player’s request.
Enríque has previously stated he would like to spend the rest of his career at Newcastle – but so did Andy Carroll.
Alan Pardew: “José’s situation is simple: he’s made it clear that he won’t talk to us until we’re safe. What are we now, 32 points? Well we’re not safe, are we?
“So that makes the situation clear and, to be honest, it makes a lot of sense for both him and us.
"He is an outstanding player and we know that. He is an important player for this team because a lot of our play goes through him.
“He is involved in a lot of the good stuff that we do and I thought he was superb (against Blackburn). In terms of technique and impact, I thought he was the best player on the pitch by some distance.”
