Luis Enrique thought he had the job at Barcelona before Tata Martino's appointment, it has been revealed.Punto Pelota says Enrique, who had already agreed to take charge of Celta Vigo, was sounded out by Barca sports chief Andoni Zubizarreta after it became clear that Tito Vilanova was stepping down.
Enrique and Celta agreed to break their agreement to leave the former Barca B coach free to return to the Nou Camp.
However, the move was blocked by Barca president Sandro Rosell, who had asked the squad's senior leadership group about Enrique and received a negative response.
Rosell had, in the meantime, been speaking with Martino after asking Lionel Messi's father, Jorge, about the former Newell's Old Boys coach. Messi Snr had given his thumbs up and after running the idea past Barca's senior players, Rosell decided to go for the Argentine ahead of Enrique.
Zubizarreta was forced to apologise to Enrique after the board and Rosell decided on Martino, which has since left the sports director feeling his influence on football matters is diminishing.
