Cristiano Ronaldo rates Luis Enrique so highly that he wanted him to become his own manager at Manchester United.
Luis Enrique, whose coaching feats include winning a spectacular treble with Barcelona in 2015, is now en route to London to hold talks with Chelsea over their vacant managerial position. The Spaniard, 52, will present his vision for the Blues at a meeting in the capital as their search to replace Graham Potter ramps up, having impressed club bosses during initial talks.
Chelsea fans have heard plenty of speculation in the days since Potter's sacking on Sunday night, but as excitement grows surrounding Luis Enrique's potential appointment, the verdict of a certain Ronaldo will only add more positivity.
Back when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was axed by United in November 2021, the Portuguese superstar allegedly made it clear that the Spaniard was his preferred candidate to succeed his ex-team-mate in the Old Trafford hot seat. While Ronaldo didn't get his wish the first time around and Ralf Rangnick came in on an interim basis, his desire to work with the former Barcelona boss remained.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner would be left disappointed once more a few months later, though, as United again chose to ignore his wishes and instead successfully pursued Erik ten Hag to replace the unpopular Rangnick last May. Ronaldo didn't get on with Ten Hag and the duo parted ways in November when the legendary striker had his contract terminated.
Having been at Real Madrid during Enrique's excellent three-year spell in charge of Barcelona, Ronaldo was forced to bear witness to the 52-year-old's triumphs. The pair then faced one another at international level after Luis Enrique became Spain manager in 2018.
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Ronaldo started all four their meetings and on every occasion failed to score, with Portugal not winning a single game.
Those matches will no-doubt have reinforced the United icon's opinion of Luis Enrique, who quit his international role in December when Spain were dumped out of the World Cup on penalties by underdogs Morocco - the same team which Ronaldo's Portugal lost to.
Having spent four months out of work, it seems that the acclaimed tactician is now ready to return to club management and he's already declared that he wants to coach in the Premier League. Before the Chelsea job became available, Luis Enrique suggested that there wasn't a vacancy "important" enough to attract him.
"I would like to go to England to work, but I don't see myself in the Premier League in July," he told La SER Gijon. "I would like to go to a team there that can do important things with and that is very difficult. I would not go to any Premier League team.
"I have had offers from national teams but not from clubs. It would have to be a very important team to take it, although it would be very difficult for me to face Spain. I don't know if I would be ready."
The ex-Barca boss has competition for the Stamford Bridge post, with the Blues also making contact with Julian Nagelsmann - fresh from his sacking as Bayern Munich boss less than a fortnight ago - while other bosses have also been sounded out.
