Jose Enrique completes switch to Liverpool

Enrique was entering the last year of his Newcastle contract (GETTY IMAGES)

New Liverpool signing Jose Enrique is determined to make the most of his opportunity to play at a "big" club and has set his sights on winning the Barclays Premier League title with the Reds.

The Spanish left-back completed his £6million move from Newcastle in time to be considered for tomorrow's season-opener at home to Sunderland.

Although he has a full pre-season with the Magpies behind him it would represent something of a gamble for manager Kenny Dalglish to throw him into the side after just one training session.

But Enrique, who was in the last year of his contract at St James' Park and had told the club he would not be renewing it, is keen to get things started.

"In Spain there is a saying, 'When the train comes in, you have to take it'," said the 25-year-old, who moved to England in 2007 in a £6.3million transfer from Villarreal.

"This is the first time a big club has come in for me and I had to take it (the opportunity).

"I have come to one of the biggest clubs not just in England, but in the world.

"This is one of the happiest days of my life.

"My ambition is win everything with Liverpool. This year we won't play in the Champions League, so the most important thing is to try to win the league."

Enrique is Dalglish's fifth summer signing, following Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam, Jordan Henderson and Alexander Doni.

Those signings, and the January acquisitions of former Newcastle team-mate Andy Carroll and Uruguay's Copa America winner Luis Suarez, convinced the defender his future lies at Anfield.

"The club have won a lot of things, including the Champions League," he said on www.liverpoolfc.tv.

"They have amazing players and I hope to win things here.

"I am excited (by the signings) - it shows Liverpool's ambition.

"They spent a lot of money in January on Andy and Luis Suarez and this summer they've spent a lot of money on other players.

"You can see they have big ambitions and that's why I came here - because I want to win things and I think I can do that here.

"I have already played for Newcastle in pre-season, not every game but two or three games and I am fit and if the manager needs me, I am ready to play.

"I hope it will be this weekend, but if not I can wait."

Enrique will fill what has been a problem position for Liverpool over the last few years and his arrival could not be more timely as there is an injury doubt over Glen Johnson, who filled in at left-back in the latter stages of last season but injured a hamstring in last weekend's friendly against Valencia.

Probably more significantly for Liverpool, however, is that Suarez is in contention to play against the Black Cats despite only returning to training on Monday.

The Uruguay striker, the Reds' best player in the second half of the previous campaign, had a delayed return to pre-season after helping his national side to victory in their continental championship.

Nevertheless, Dalglish is weighing up whether to select him, which would certainly offset the absence of captain Steven Gerrard whose prolonged recuperation from groin surgery in March means he is unlikely to feature until next month.

"He's trained and has no problem. We'll wait and see how he is tomorrow - and we'll also see how Glen Johnson is in the morning," said the Scot.

"We are delighted with who we have brought in. We think it helps the squad.

"We had to improve the squad that we had and that's the important thing - I think people would have been disappointed if we hadn't.

"We are happy with the business we have done and look forward to the start of the season like everybody else.

"Every club is exactly the same as us and has high expectation before a ball has been kicked.

"We are all excited. Everybody looks forward to it (the start of a season); I suppose it's a wee bit like Christmas Day for the kids isn't it?

"We just hope we can fulfil the expectation. But at the same time we will try to remain realistic and concentrate on one game at a time and see where that takes us."