Sergi Roberto is a “complete player,” says Spain boss Luis Enrique

Spain boss Luis Enrique has poured praise in the direction of Barcelona midfielder Sergi Roberto, suggesting that he is the “complete player”.

Enrique is new to his role in the Spanish international set-up after agreeing to take over from Fernando Hierro following Spain’s poor showing at the World Cup in Russia this summer.

Following the Spanish FA’s decision to sack former coach Julen Lopetegui just before the start of the World Cup, due to his well-advertised move to Real Madrid post-tournament, La Roja eventually lost out to hosts Russia in the round-of-16.

Now Enrique has a rebuilding job on his hands and he has just announced his first squad under his leadership ahead of their Uefa Nations League ties against both England and Croatia.

Among those called up is Roberto, who was not included in Spain’s World Cup squad. Roberto was managed by Enrique when the now-Spain boss was the head coach at Barcelona between 2014 and 2017.

Describing the midfielder-come-defender to reporters, Enrique couldn’t help but marvel at the talented star who will now look to reclaim his place among the Spanish squad.

“Sergi Roberto is the total player. I put it as a midfielder, it can be defence or also forward. You can play in all positions and in all, you do well,” he said.

To date, Roberto has made just three appearances for his country, scoring once in an 8-0 thrashing of Liechtenstein in the 2018 World Cup qualification stages.

After the departure of Andres Iniesta from both the Spain and Barcelona set-ups, Roberto will now be looking to put himself in the best position possible moving forward with both squads.

Roberto’s Barcelona play Huesca in their next game on Sunday having won both of their La Liga matches without conceding a goal so far.

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