20 Jan 2013

The end is nigh: Euro giants want fading £10m LFC star. Let him go...?

Speculation over the future of Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina is reaching fever pitch at the moment, and Barcelona are the latest club rumoured to be interested in signing the Spaniard.

Earlier this week, Atletico Madrid reportedly joined the race to sign Reina, and according to a report in the Daily Mail, Barcelona have identified him as a potential replacement for the outgoing Victor Valdes. The Report states:

"Barcelona are expected to move to sign Liverpool's Pepe Reina in the summer after Victor Valdes announced last week he will not be renewing his contract.

"Barca want to recruit a new goalkeeper in June [and] believe Liverpool would consider a bid for Reina, with manager Brendan Rodgers aware that he will have to sell key players to raise money to rebuild the current side"


Liverpool seem to be actively looking for a goalkeeper, and in recent months, the likes of Jack Butland, Asmir Begovic, Jason Steele, Ali Al Habsi, and VIctor Valdes have all been touted as replacements for £10m-rated Reina.

Valdes is definitely leaving in the summer, and his Agents confirmed this in a statement to Spanish national news agency Efe, which read:

"The agents of Victor Valdes have communicated to Barcelona in a meeting held this afternoon the irrevocable decision of the player to not renew his contract"

Reina's form as dipped over the last two years, and consistently good performances are arguably the exception rather than the rule these days.

Perhaps there could be a potential swap deal on the cards, with Reina to Barcelona and Valdes to Anfield?

Jaimie Kanwar NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)


59 comments:

  1. get shut hes had his day...always moaning ( when hes at fault ) and he lacks the focus he used to have....how many times have we dominated for 30 mins only for them to shoot once and score...id would of got shut when he was banging on about wanting to join arsenal and win things....funny though he won a cup and arsenal still have won nothing ...dump him and his 120 grand wages.....Ps he cant save a shot at the near post for luck no money

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  2. I would sell him for 10m but not less, get in Butland, use Jones this season, sometimes butland. Next season Jack could be our New No1. Hes cheap, his wages wouldnt be that high, and hes probably the biggest english GK talent right now..

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  3. Sorry jamie but will be blocking you're from now on. You are not really a liverpool fan but instead use every opportunity to put the club down. Very daily mail style "the world is ending" rubbish

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  4. Sell Reina and get Andre Ter Stegen or Zieler from Germany ideal replacements.

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  5. can never take valdez on any day..wedont need him.butland is better

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  6. yes, or an german keeper. There are great keepers in Germany.

    Rene Adler would be the best, but there are still Leno, or Kevin Trapp for example.. Liverpool is a bigger club than HSV/Frankfurth/Mönchengladbach will ever be, so why dont we shop for a keeper there? 

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  7. Fading? Reina's star has completely faded. I can't believe that so many teams have failed to notice and remain interested!

    I don't want Butland or any other kids to replace him though. It doesn't need to take several years to rebuild a CL team. It will do if we continue to prioritise players that are so far away from delivering to a high level on a consistent basis though.

    Mistakes from goalkeepers are too costly to waste time with a kid that we know is consistently going to cost us games while he learns his trade. Forget about potential and just pick up somebody that is going to control our area and keep clean sheets more often than not.

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  8. Butland isnt better than Reina or Valdes yet. Hes inproven in the premier leage. But he can get better!

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  9. im sleeping with your wife Jamie you plastic cunt

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  10. From what I have seen I have to agree about German keepers, good call!

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  11. Pass on Butland and go for Jason Steele. I watch many boro games as a colleague at work is a boro fan. Steele is class and will end up as england's number 1 I think.
    Offload Reina and play Jones with Gulacsi as backup for the rest of the season, buy Steele and loan him straight back to boro to finish the season and keep him fit, match sharp and playing.

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  12. the best thing is, theres a huge amount of young keepers in the leage right now. Im absolutely sure Liverpool would attract those. just watch videos of Trapp, Adler, Leno, Ter Stegen. They are epic. and if you can save goals in the german leage, you can do the same in the english, im pretty sure about that!

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  13. i think if we get an offer for 10 million we should definitely take it! Begovic at stoke is a top keeper, and there are loads of good keepers in the premiership and of course abroad. I think unfortunately pepe isnt near being one of the top five keepers in england right now. Also theres no point spending over 7mil on a keeper, there are loads available, and we can get someone on much lower wages.

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  14. I wouldnt be mad if reina goes, obviously hes been poor in the last 2-3 years conceding many easy saved goals, terrible on pens never saves one, and everytime brad jones comes on he shows hes better than reina, but I would never swap reina with valdes its almost the same he aint good enough, Im impressed by the swansea keeper vorm he looks a real deal, mignolet also decent so one of these for me

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  15. Sign a 'keeper who can command penalty area, and can catch crosses.

    Not many can.....

    Your standard Gaelic footballer in Ireland is far better at fielding high balls than 90% of today's professional keepers, it seems

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  16. Yess...it is times for LFC to sell out the player who cannot give 100% loyalty for the club.We must payback because before this Barcelona are refused to loan or sell David Villa with bargain price.Axed their neck now. I think the price must be over uk20 milion and plus with Christian Tello.LFC no nedd to swap with Vilctor Valdes who getting older than Pepe Reina.Jack Butland,Andre Ter Stegen and Zieler is much better players that LFC can sign in.They more youngest than pepe now.One thing???Why LFC able to keep Doni with nothing activity at LFC now? LFC must sell him too.

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  17. Ive said practically the same mate, couldnt agree more, one shot or header sometimes & he,s picking the ball out the net, i reckon his heart aint been in it since his spanish boss rafa left, didnt worry me at all him not playing yesterday

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  18. think we are all overlookin brad jones hes do well 30yrs old at his peak for a cat sell uncle festa asap and give the jersey to jones and review it in the summer

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  19. Ter Stegen would be my choice for sure.

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  20. Adler all day long he is quality, but good call on them all

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  21. Why the long list of potential replacements, we have a world class goalkeeper in Brad jones at the club already.

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  22. it must be really hard for pepe knowing that is career is over,and he is now going to have to finish is career at some second rate club lol,why do you think barca and like want him dose anyone on this post not think they could not have nearly any keeper they want,also jaimie why dose rodgers now have to sell to buy i tought fsg said we can compete with anybody,new yanks same old lies

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  23. heard we had 40 mill to spend in jan . so there should be 28 mill floating round somewhere .fsg have got to invest or sell up !

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  24.  reina may well go to barca and be great...i just get the impression his heart isnt in it at at anfield ....and when you consider hes on 120 g a week playing in an area with one of the highest unemployment rates its a disgrace not to give anyhing more than 100% we just got rid of another freeloadewr in cole now let reina be the next

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  25. where did you read that? things are not so easy, players wages are different, we sold some players, will probably score some more... i dont think you can specify a particular amount we have to spent, its always up to the players ... FSG to pump us with money, but sometimes you need to spend clever, thats what they are trying, we ll never buy players such as neymar or cavani ...

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  26. cannot see us signing anyone else,what fsg say and do are 2 different things they also said we can compete with anyclub in the world when it comes to transfers but as we know they have,nt no doubt some bleeding heart will reply saying how fsg have saved the club bla bla 

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  27. I think theres a bit of complacency on here. To sell Reina now and not replace him till summer isnt something an ambitiuos side should do.
    Personaly id like more than 10 mill for him, hes not old. And you wont get anyone good for much less. 

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  28. Greg | Liverpool Kopites2:54 pm, January 20, 2013

    Exactly. Werner boasted to the whole world that we have the cash to compete with the best. Don't say it if you can't walk the talk. And then you try to lowball other clubs after boasting about having lotsa cash. Crazy silly.

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  29. Greg | Liverpool Kopites2:56 pm, January 20, 2013

    Reina should have gone long ago. Heart stopped being in it the moment he started moaning. Clearly thinks he's bigger than the club and once Benitez was shown the door, he clearly wished he'd followed suit. I don't know who to sign but Jones hasn't done so bad this season.

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  30. talks cheap actions speak louder than words and as i thought were not seeing a lot of transfer action in this window ,hope i,am wrong and we get at least 1 more good signing

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  31. I would take a swap right now for Valdes, who IMO is the best spanish keeper there is. 

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  32. Whoever we get, we'd have to make sure that he is commanding. There is enough youth and uncertainty in the squad already without a De Gea-esque rookie.

    Reina is a big presence in the dressing room, we want someone who can replace him in that regard, or else we'll continue to be a side with no character.

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  33. I've been thinking for two or three years that Reina doesn't want to play for us anymore. Mainly because I cannot believe that his form could drop that much and stay at a relatively low level for any sustained period of time. Therefore it still wouldn't come as a surprise to me if he left us soon, maybe even in this transfer window. As for the fee, 10m seems to be not enough, simply because we probably would have to pay at least that or even more for one of Europe's up and coming keepers (as DerBaumMann has already mentioned, there is a lot of goalkeeping talent to be found in Germany, but none of the club want to sell cheap, especially not to the Prem). If Barca, or Arsenal want Reina, we should at least get what we have to pay for his replacement plus 5m.

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  34. I, too, read that some time ago, but the article then mentioned that after signing Sturridge for 12m and Ince for 6m, two thirds of the available kitty would be gone. Surely that amount included agent fees, signing fees and whatever comes with the purchase of a player.

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  35. A goalkeeper's career can hardly be considered over at the age of 30. If things go really well for him, he has another 10 years in the game.

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  36. Bernd Leno or Marc-Andre ter Stegen for me. Unfortunately we won't get Neuer.

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  37. We've once talked an exchange student from Australia to play football with us. He was totally useless outfield, but due to him playing Aussie Rules at home, he was exceptional at catching the ball.

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  38. Just read BJ's bio/profile he's all heart,i believe he deserves the #1 slot for at least a season,no stranger to the clean sheet.

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  39. did i say it was over,no i did not infact i said the opposite

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  40. In that case I misunderstood what you wrote, which was "it must be really hard for Pepe knowing that (h?)is career is over...". Please explain to me what that sentence means if not 'his career is over'.

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  41. Hm, don't know. He's looked solid enough now that he's got a few games, but he hasn't really played many games during his career, therefore is a bit inexperienced. You don't base your belief on giving him a season as regular starter on his bio, do you? Anyway, you may well have a point in giving him a fair shot. He didn't really disappoint for us so far.

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  42. stop nit picking ,some second rate club like barca!,or real madrid

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  43. I'm not nit-picking, I just thought you wrote that Pepe knows that his career is over. There may be something to your original comment I simply don't understand as I am not a native speaker. Therefore I politely asked you how I should understand you sentence.

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  44.  Agree again time and again! Good starts, Relentless attacking, rotating Liverpool possession but one chance (shot or header) by the opposition ends up in the back of the net. Good keeper but his level of focus has definitely decreased

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  45. Reina's age is not the problem.  His weight is the problem.  He is too big and it shows in slow reaction times and movements.  Plus I think he might need glasses. That kid that played for us yesterday did a great job.  Reina has made mistakes.

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  46. i think his interest has diminished.

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  47. what does it matter if we sell him and don't replace him, we like doing that! just as we were the premiership 'spain' for a week, not so long back, we don't need a permanent goalie, 'rush' goalkeeper will do us fine!!!

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  48. it was tongue in cheek basically if hes no good why do top european sides whant to sign him

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  49. Thanks for the explanation. Tongue-in-cheek is something I often miss, sorry 'bout that.

    Don't know whether someone on here really claimed that Reina is not good, he simply is off form for a few years now. I think this is due to him not being into Liverpool F.C. with his heart (anymore). He might be back to his best with a club that he thinks match his ambition. If he thinks he can achieve great things at Arsenal, he may be well advised to think again. Barcelona is a no-brainer really. Can't think of many players who wouldn't jump at the chance to play for them.

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  50. Rene Adler would work for me  as Rene replacement. He is a good solid goal keeper. Battled it out with Manuel Neur to be Germany's number 1 but due to the fact that Neur plays for Bayern and slight injury picked up by Adler he lost out to Neur. Watched Adler for some time now and he is still solid in the back.

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  51. butland for the future. pepe is not finished or become a bad player, probably just bored of mid table rubbish

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  52. the reason we were midtable is down to the amount of goals he conceded when he should have been stoppin them. the man doesn t make saves .awful on crosses and the near post well thats another story how long have u got?

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  53. We need to sell him...TODAY! Last week he was worth 20 million in one of your articles, now it's only 10 million! If we wait till summer we will be paying a fortune to his new club!

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  54. Reina is an absolute calamity in goal and the whole team is constantly compromised by how easily the opposition gets goals against us.

    All our build up play and domination of games is to ZERO effect when the opposition get their first shot on target as their first goal.

    The defence is always blamed and scrutinized, with great positional players and born leaders like Carra taking the blame for Reina's incompetence.

    Reina cannot seem to hold onto his gloves let alone the ball.

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  55. Pepe is surely worth more than 10 mil, goalkeepers play on till their late 30's now so he's easily got another 8 years, look at Friedel and Schwarzer, if we're goin to sign a new keeper then we need to sign him first before Reina goes anywhere. I'm gutted that so many people would want to just get rid of a super keeper and a great character, the goals we've conceded this year have been down to weak defending, not just Pepe, I wouldn't let him go anywhere for at least 15 mil, especially with the teams that are after him, just proves that he hasn't lost it when he's got Barca, Arsenal and he scum sniffing around him.

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  56. Reina is not a bad keeper at all . Everyone makes mistakes . Even Gerard in his heyday scored an own goal in the League Cup Final against Chelsea . He also gave away a wayward backpass in another game against Chelsea which resulted in Chelsea scoring , plus a few other bad passes .
    No one said he was past it , than .

    I would hold on to Reina unless the offer is at least 20 Million pounds or very close to that. He may not be the best keeper but he aint bad . He also has good vision in throwing the ball and starting a breakaway attack.

    Seems some want perfection , and they aint gonna find it.

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  57. I'd rather take Reina over Valdes any day of the week ,if at all we sell him Begovic is probably the best keeper .

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  58. I agree . Reina is much better than some here give him credit for .

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  59. No...20milion pound plus with Christian Tello.DEAL DONE !!!

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