The figure of Javi Enríquez, nicknamed ‘The Mentalist’ during his time at Girona, arouses conflicting reactions among those who have treated him at the Barça club
An old tax inspection that follows the route of a heavy fine and a leak of the investigation of the Prosecutor’s Office towards that company has uncovered a major scandal, another sordid goings-on of football, which has exposed the relations between José María Enríquez Negreira and his son Javier Enríquez Romero with FC Barcelona.
Those of the father are in the territory of suspicion due to secrecy and the obvious conflict of interest for the provision of paid services between a First Division club and the Vice President of the Technical College of Referees (CTA). Those of the son are born due to his participation as administrator from 2001 to 2019 in the company Dasnil 95 SL (created in 1995) through which the former referee obtained the charges. The inspection has uncovered irregularities of the parent that he was unaware of and that dot him. Apparently, almost all of the income that entered the family company, which included even María Luisa Enríquez Romero, daughter and sister, were payments from Barça.
“A very nice guy & rdquor ;, “a very competent professional & rdquor ;, “he never made a report at Barça & rdquor; and “he was seen by the Miniestadi and the Johan Cruyff as a companion to the referees& rdquor; are some of the phrases collected by nine testimonies that outline the multifaceted dimension of Javier Enríquez (Barcelona, 1973), who has touched almost all the keys of soccer. At Girona, where he made a daily contribution, they remember him with the nickname ‘The Mentalist’ for the psychological advice he provided.
Eurocup Champion
The relations of the son of Enríquez Negreira have not been so exclusive with the Barcelona club. He has also worked for Valencia, Rayo Vallecano, Atlético de Madrid, Fenerbahçe of Turkey and Girona for a season and a half (2010-12). He also worked with the Spanish Football Federation through various channels: the Catalan College of Referees, the Technical Committee of Referees and the coaching staff of the Spanish team at the time of Luis Aragones during the 2006 World Cup in Germany and Euro 2008.
In Girona they nicknamed him ‘The Mentalist’ for the psychological advice he gave the team
The surname and the influence of the father fundamentally helped Javier Enríquez to enter the high spheres of the soccer world. But if he stayed in it, and in various activities, it was due to the academic training that at the same time allowed him to enter other demarcations of the field. Another issue is what kind of work he did for Barça, how much he charged for it and whether the money paid was justified.
Treat Contreras right
The fact that it became known that, supposedly, he channeled his invoices through the company of Josep Contreras, former vice president of the Catalan Football Federation, and that he kept a commission for it, entangles a relationship that should not be suspicious.
“Yes, we knew, for example, that Contreras always had to be treated well and with deference because he was a close friend of Ángel Villar& rdquor ;, recalls a former Barça player. The contractual relationship that existed with Contreras was never known at the management level. The links with Enríquez Negreira were not discussed in the meeting room either.
Several people consulted who have belonged to Barça in the last 20 years have assured that they have no record that he had carried out technical or follow-up reports for the club. Only one acknowledges the collaboration of “Javi”: Gerard López, who was coach of Barça B between 2015 and 2018. Strangely, Enríquez says he has been an external collaborator of FC Barcelona since 2018 on his website and does not set a completion date.
Analyst and companion
“I received a report every week from the referee that he was going to whistle at us in the next game, in which he described his characteristics& rdquor;, says Gerard. Characteristics such as if he was a card holder or permissive, if he tolerated the more physical game or was it restrictive, the level of tolerance in the protests… The coach shared the information with the footballers to notify them. “The boys also read them & rdquor ;, he affirms. Some of them resorted, over time, to the technical and psychological help that the external collaborator could provide.
“He sent me a report every week from the referee who was going to whistle at us in the next game, in which he described his characteristics”
First Division referees are well known. They are few, and there are hardly one or two that change in the category every year. In Segunda B, for example, there is no such level of information. The appointees came from various territories (Aragonese, Valencian, Murcian, Balearic Islands…) and Enríquez gave the background to the Barcelona fans. But nevertheless, come the weekend, he was playing a second role on the other front: He was the accompanist of the referees to the stadium.
Barça employees deny that he prepared player reports and recall that they saw him accompanying the referees in the changing room tunnel
“He was often seen through the changing room tunnel, sometimes in the box,” says another former Barça worker who, on the other hand, denies having heard that Enríquez made any kind of report. Neither arbitration nor technical nor analytical. “After so many years in the house that would have been known.” Another source traces the presence of Enríquez Junior to the Barça B matches and even the Juvenil at the Miniestadi. But not as a Barça collaborator or employee.
“He never made any report on any player. At least, I don’t know & rdquor ;. It is the coincident testimony of two senior managers of the azulgrana youth academy. “The club has a network of scouters that inform us of the most outstanding soccer players in all of Spain that could interest us. And another network of technicians who prepare videographic reports and analysis of soccer players & rdquor ;, adds this technician, a specialist in youth soccer, implying that Enríquez Romero would not have covered any unoccupied plot.
One more in Girona
Raül Agné, who was Girona’s coach in the 2010-11 season, recalls Javier Enríquez’s intervention at the club. He was part of the coaching staff. “Like one more & rdquor ;, precise. Almost daily presence, at the foot of the field, even when traveling. “I have no complaints about his contribution & rdquor ;, adds Agné.
“I wanted strengthen the psychological department with a specialist who would help us externally and the club hired him& rdquor;, explains the coach. He coach Enríquez worked with the group once a week and treated the soccer players individually in talks and private meetings. This is where the nickname ‘The Mentalist’ came from, attributed to him by those who met him in Montilivi. The relationship broke with the dismissal of Agné the following season (11-12) and the financial problems suffered by Girona in a season with poor results.
“I wanted to strengthen the psychological department and Girona hired him. I have no complaints about his contribution “”
Javier Enríquez Romero’s list of connections with clubs and entities ends in 2018 according to his personal website. It becomes “external collaborator & rdquor; of FC Barcelona. Just, paradoxically, when Josep Maria Bartomeu says he has severed all ties with the family that is costing him half a million euros per year. Enríquez’s employment information has not been updated, as if he had disappeared from the world, given that the intense activity he carried out combined several consultancies at the same time.
The website says that since 2018 he has been an external collaborator of FC Barcelona. Justo Bartomeu affirmed that he was no longer a collaborator.
Recognized as a ‘coach’
But it has not disappeared. He now works as a mental and technical coach at a private level – he does not advertise if he is linked to a club – serving footballers and coaches who require his services. He has his office on the Barcelona border with Esplugues de Llobregat in a building that looks like a single-family home.
The main activity now is to act as a psychological ‘coach’ and individual technical assistant.
“We have sent some of our players when they need a hand,” says a Catalan agent who has known Enríquez since they met in Barça’s grassroots football. “He is a good guy, serious, hardworking and knows what he is talking about. He is educated & rdquor ;, ratifies. A representative colleague corroborates that assessment.
SoccerCam SL is dedicated, according to the reason for its creation, to “the production and production of sports videos, as well as the promotion and marketing of company products and services & rdquor ;. Enríquez Romero extends his skills to “technical, tactical and psychological football videos and advice on high sports performance & rdquor ;.