Last week, Liverpool goal keeper said that he will not be returning to Liverpool after his season long loan to Napoli as he feels that Simon Mignolet is the new number one and he would not be able to displace him.
Reina’s plans may have hit a speed bump as Napoli sporting director Riccardo Bigon says that the Spanish goal keeper will return to Liverpool after his loan. He told Mediaset: “Will Reina stay? At the end of the year he will return to Liverpool. In life you can re-examine everything, but to date Reina is a player of Liverpool. It’s too early to talk about it – at that moment we could only take him on loan.
“When [former Roma goalkeeper] Morgan De Sanctis expressed the idea of choosing another team we tried Rafael as first-choice goalkeeper. The Brazilian will be the future of the club in that role. We chose Reina because Rafa Benitez knew him well.”
So Napoli have made it clear that they want Rafael as their goal keepr on a long term basis. That means Reina will have to hope that Barcelona come calling for him as Victor Valdes is set to leave at the end of the season. The chances are very high that Reina is the man Barcelona want but you never know in the world of football; Barcelona may opt to also go out and bring in a younger keeper.
So there still is a possibility Reina could still be a Liverpool player come the summer as Napoli do not seem keen to sign him, but I am sure Pepe will have many suitors out there for him if he decides to leave Anfield. Liverpool too, would be desperate to get Reina off the wage bill if he is set to play second fiddle to Mignolet, it is not financially viable to pay a second choice goal keeper £100 000 a week.
No thanks. Mignolet is much better that reina. Reina was starting to drop his form and it was good we let him go and got a younger keeper. Mignolet just needs to work on his crosses and ball distribution. He will be a liverpool great. Ynwa
Reina can accept a pay cut and help Liverpool and finish his career with us. We should be grateful to him.
Pepe had better keep his gap shut as he may have to eat humble pie when he returns. He thought he was being loyal to Liverpool by informing them early that he would like to go to Barca if an offer comes in. What do you think the pub should do? Wait until it happens and then go looking for another first choice keeper . The. Club did the right thing by getting Mignolet in early and decided to loan Pepe, which was win-win for both player and club. But Pepe has been talking too much. If he does not get his move to Barca at the end of this season, he will have to come back to Liverpool and face his masters again. So best he can do is keep his mouth shut, play well for Napoli and hope Barca will come in for him. But he will not go cheap, that is clear.