Barcelona vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu has publicly confirmed (for the first time) that the Catalan club is definitely interested in signing Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina.
Speaking to RAC1 yesterday, Bartomeu confirmed:
"Ter Stegen and Reina are within our range of options, which is already very small
"We are in highly advanced negotiations.
"If Valdes says officially where he will go to in January, we will announce the new goalkeeper for Barcelona"
When asked recently about his future in August, Reina told the The Independent:
"At the moment it's difficult to think about being a Liverpool player next year. They have a young goalkeeper in Simon Mignolet and the manager prefers him to me. There's no reason to think I'll be a Liverpool player from now on"
In October, however, Reina seemed resigned to the possibility of returning to Merseyside next summer. He told Italian newspaper La Gazetta Dello Sport:
"My future? As far as I know, I will return to Liverpool after my loan spell is over. Then, we'll see what happens. Now, I'm only thinking about doing well with Napoli"
Reina certainly has a lot of support within the Barca camp, though, and over the last couple of months, several of the club's players/staff have declared their public support.
* SEPTEMBER: Frans Hoek - the Barca's former goalkeeping coach - insisted Reina is the only realistic option to take over from Victor Valdes. He told Mundo Deportivo:
"Pepe [Reina] is the best option for Barca. The club needs a goalkeeper with confidence, who is of a high standard, and can play the system that suits Barca. A young player with no experience of the Barca system would need time to adapt, which is why Reina is the best choice".
* OCTOBER: Pedro Rodriguez told Esport3:
"He [Reina] knows the club and has been here in other years, so he would be a great goalkeeper for us. We would be delighted to welcome Pepe because we already know him. He would fit in very quickly."
* OCTOBER: Sergio Busquets told COPE Radio:
"He [Reina] is a great goalkeeper. If he comes it would be fine.”
* OCTOBER: Cesc Fabregas told Radio Catalunya:
"Victor has been here for 10 years and none of us can imagine another goalkeeper in his place, but one of the things that Pepe can bring is that he knows all of us. He provides a very good atmosphere in the dressing room and is experienced."
Reina - recently described as 'extraordinary' by Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque - is rated in the £15m-rated bracket (which is arguably a fair fee), but according to Mundo Deportivo last month:
* Liverpool have agreed to sell a €5m fee with Barcelona for Reina.
* The fee will be made in two payments: €2.5m in 2014, and €2.5m in 2015.
€5m for one of the top goalkeepers in Europe with probably another 8-9 years left at the top? Seems like a giant rip-off to me. Having said that, perhaps the club just wants to cut its losses and get Reina off the wage bill.
Liverpool could hold out for a bigger fee - £10m, perhaps - but if the Spaniard can't be shifted at that price, the Reds could ultimately be left with an unhappy goalkeeper on massive wages.
One thing seems sure: Reina will never play for Liverpool FC again. It's a shame things have ended on a somewhat sour note, but the Spaniard actively pushed for a move several times during his time at the club, so he's arguably complicit in the way things have turned out.
Author: Jaimie K
Speaking to RAC1 yesterday, Bartomeu confirmed:
"Ter Stegen and Reina are within our range of options, which is already very small
"We are in highly advanced negotiations.
"If Valdes says officially where he will go to in January, we will announce the new goalkeeper for Barcelona"
When asked recently about his future in August, Reina told the The Independent:
"At the moment it's difficult to think about being a Liverpool player next year. They have a young goalkeeper in Simon Mignolet and the manager prefers him to me. There's no reason to think I'll be a Liverpool player from now on"
In October, however, Reina seemed resigned to the possibility of returning to Merseyside next summer. He told Italian newspaper La Gazetta Dello Sport:
"My future? As far as I know, I will return to Liverpool after my loan spell is over. Then, we'll see what happens. Now, I'm only thinking about doing well with Napoli"
Reina certainly has a lot of support within the Barca camp, though, and over the last couple of months, several of the club's players/staff have declared their public support.
* SEPTEMBER: Frans Hoek - the Barca's former goalkeeping coach - insisted Reina is the only realistic option to take over from Victor Valdes. He told Mundo Deportivo:
"Pepe [Reina] is the best option for Barca. The club needs a goalkeeper with confidence, who is of a high standard, and can play the system that suits Barca. A young player with no experience of the Barca system would need time to adapt, which is why Reina is the best choice".
* OCTOBER: Pedro Rodriguez told Esport3:
"He [Reina] knows the club and has been here in other years, so he would be a great goalkeeper for us. We would be delighted to welcome Pepe because we already know him. He would fit in very quickly."
* OCTOBER: Sergio Busquets told COPE Radio:
"He [Reina] is a great goalkeeper. If he comes it would be fine.”
* OCTOBER: Cesc Fabregas told Radio Catalunya:
"Victor has been here for 10 years and none of us can imagine another goalkeeper in his place, but one of the things that Pepe can bring is that he knows all of us. He provides a very good atmosphere in the dressing room and is experienced."
Reina - recently described as 'extraordinary' by Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque - is rated in the £15m-rated bracket (which is arguably a fair fee), but according to Mundo Deportivo last month:
* Liverpool have agreed to sell a €5m fee with Barcelona for Reina.
* The fee will be made in two payments: €2.5m in 2014, and €2.5m in 2015.
€5m for one of the top goalkeepers in Europe with probably another 8-9 years left at the top? Seems like a giant rip-off to me. Having said that, perhaps the club just wants to cut its losses and get Reina off the wage bill.
Liverpool could hold out for a bigger fee - £10m, perhaps - but if the Spaniard can't be shifted at that price, the Reds could ultimately be left with an unhappy goalkeeper on massive wages.
One thing seems sure: Reina will never play for Liverpool FC again. It's a shame things have ended on a somewhat sour note, but the Spaniard actively pushed for a move several times during his time at the club, so he's arguably complicit in the way things have turned out.
Author: Jaimie K
omg a whole piece on liverpool and ur not trying to cause trouble or make things outa nothing or trying to stop us fans enjoying our great start to the season. This has shocked me, but im sure ull be back 2 normal very very soon.
ReplyDeleteCome on Jaimie, you've often indicated that Reina should go, so no pretending that you're sad about the way it's turning out.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I rate Reina very highly; better than Mignolet when on form and I agree that he has many years at the top in him. Can't blame him for wanting to go back to his boyhood club, especially as they're probably still the number one club in the world.
Sadly, and I mean sadly, Reina's now past history for Liverpool and Mignolet's been better than expected, so we move on. I suspect that Reina's salary has been the biggest single factor in this and is a key concern for FSG. Getting younger players with lower salaries, but with performance related addons makes perfect business sense, but risks reducing the teams overall performance. Hope they get the balance right.
As for the fee. Anything less than 10M for Reina, would be criminal and not staged payments thank you, all up front please. Personally, I believe that he's worth the 15M rating, based on his ability and number of years remaining.
Let's thank Reina for what he's done for us and refuse to do any stupid deals with Barca. Would prefer a swap deal to get the proper value.
I'm not sad he's going (!) I don't think I've suggested that either. Agree with you though than anything less than £10m would be a rip-off.
ReplyDeletehe never confirmed this...lies jamie.
ReplyDeletehe confirmed that reina is in barcelona's range of option...thats all. check the facts
I agree with everything you said but one...he will go for less than 10mil. We can thank LFC for agreeing to loan him out instead of selling him devalued him on so many levels (year older, year less on contract, time to show that LFC dont want/need him, etc).
ReplyDeleteIts going to be an Owen-esc robbery; not quite as bad, but bad nevertheless
He can go...the present keeper is better. Reina got fat and slow the last couple of years. It looked like he was phoning it in a lot. Judging from how long Barca likes to hold on to keepers, I would think they would go for the 21 year old.
ReplyDeleteWe have ZERO leverage to get more money. There's no market for him because everyone knows he wants to go to Barca.
ReplyDeleteWhy would Barca give us market value for a player that has no market value?
They can't get him for free but give the position we are in with him (not wanting him), we don't have much of a choice.
The only way we can get a higher fee is if another team comes in and Reina would seriously consider going there. Without both of those factors, we are lucky to get whatever we can.
He was never a good goalkeeper for us other than good on saving penalties! Without going to finals or semis, that skill can never be put to use! All these years we had lost count of his blunders and his comical goal keeping that had in term caused us plenty of EPL points.
ReplyDeleteBut i still think is that his BIG mouth that can't contain secrets and causes disharmony that was the last straw. And BR has noticed that and prompted him to make suck a great great decision.
Furthermore, since he has been prostituting himself to barca all these years and so wish granted! Let them have a taste of him, good luck!
But that provided there should be some proper offer!
5mil for Reina looks like an insult to a BIG club like Barca!
Worst of all, installment plan!
I have heard rumours that Enrique may be out for the season....
ReplyDeleteI like Enrique. He does run himself out of options in the offensive zone and his passes could be better. That said, he gets out of jams in our defensive zone, can beat guys one on one and cause people to chase him. Thus far, Cissoko has not shown any offensive skills yet and in this big game, I would choose Jose to start.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to add that Agger needs some play time and DM or LB are good options. Couldn't Kelly play there as well ? He seemed fit the last time I saw him and he is fast, big and doesn't take any sh@t from anyone.
ReplyDeleteGood riddance. The fee is too low IMO. If we only get 5m that's criminal unless we get the cash AND someone we want from the Barca roster.
ReplyDeleteUtter rubbish saying he was never a good goalkeeper for us. He was Brilliant for a number of years, only the last few seasons has his form dropped.
ReplyDeletewith no doubt even luis is not class left back bt he is stl far goood to sisocko.
ReplyDeleteand if we real need to win this game sisocko must be on banch.
i dnt apreciate to play Agger if Luis is in good condition, in agresive game like this u need someone who has experiece on that place because he wont feel more presure of doing mistake.
hope BR will play our bull on the left to make their wright winger silence.
If Valdes did not decide to see out his contract then Reina would have been sold to Barcelona which is where Reina wants to be.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you're right.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think he had a poor attitude. Point taken about not playing in his best position but at the time we needed a solid defensive base and Sahin showed no appetite or aptitude for fulfilling that role; he looked disinterested and lightweight in 50 50 challenges.
ReplyDeleteYes he was played out of position mostly
But....
In simple terms, he sulked.
I can't see that fee being correct. Perhaps there may be more to it. How many Barca players have we been linked to. There could well be action both ways here, probably not Tello but maybe Montoya.
ReplyDeleteWell, this discussion is over now.
ReplyDeleteEnrique could be out for months. At least Agger and Sakho can deputise. I'd rather Johnson stayed on the right.
Why is it Liverpool seemed to get robbed but the big Spanish clubs that i dont know.
ReplyDeleteWell i can only hope hope the club gets 1 over on them by taking more of their highly rated juniors and maybe selling em back for a heap ala Fabregas.
The question is has Sissokho done better than Robinson would have. I don't know but the manager and coaches probably would have a better idea. He has had some chances and in the end sometimes it just doesn't work out. This season is very important and we should be tilting at champs league. Your right re Jan. Even if we were to get a RB that could mean Johnson on that side depending on form of others.
ReplyDeleteHe was never a good keeper? Clearly you must have never seen him play. He was the best keeper in the PL for 3-4 seasons in a row, his golden glove awards proves it.
ReplyDeleteWell Enrique is out for the season. This changes everything.
ReplyDeleteNow LB is a priority in Jan as well as DM/CM. Doubt we'll buy an attacker now.
My guess would be LB,DM and Hughes for Jan.
His high wages area a problem. We are not Chelsea or City, clubs that can have a 100K a week player rotting on the bench. So it makes sense.
ReplyDelete5M Euros is a pittance for him but I rather him go than be on the bench while earning millions.
I am sure he is a good man, but footballing wise it's best he moves on. He as has given us his best years so far a la Torres.
PS did everyone hear about McParland and Borrell being "sacked"?
ReplyDeleteClearly late to the party mate. Reina was our most consistent player for ages and was on of the best in the world. I didn't read past HKlee's first line as it was utter nonsense.
ReplyDeleteYeah a bit shocked by that mate. God I hope someone good comes in. I always thought those two were well thought of.
ReplyDeleteListen jaime, every knows about this. Stop writing past news. Your so taking the piss out of your readers. You need to get a proper job you immoral half wit.
ReplyDeleteGotta be something wrong there maybe the new lot may give us some idea why the players all thought highly of both.
ReplyDeleteThat's a major surprise, especially Borrell, who was only recently promoted.
ReplyDeleteEnrique injury too.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it? Some newspapers are trying to sensationalize the story bu suggesting it was a play by BR to seize control.
ReplyDeleteWho knows though. Maybe he has already made replacements in mind.
Hopefully it will be someone with quality!
ReplyDeleteMe2! Was a shock to me too!
ReplyDeleteDoes not look like Enrique will be coming back anytime soon, knee surgery is in the plan according to BR
ReplyDeleteCan we have Johnson on the left and Henderson/Kelly/Wisdom at right back for the derby if Enrique is injured, pretty please.
ReplyDeleteIf Barca goes for Ter stegen,who is obviously better,he'll prolonf his loan in Napoli and leave for even less than 5 mill...
ReplyDeleteGet a grip - hes been signed on loan as backup for Enrique - and guess what, we need that backup as Jose is injured! So ofcourse hes not better than Enrique as what would be the point in signing a better player on loan than the one we already have?
ReplyDeleteAs for Moses, hes there to plug the hole Downing left on the wing. Both players are buying time for us to make the right signing so I think we should just accept that.
Alternatively we have Jack Robinson the kid or one of the centrebacks as a leftback.
Get off his back and support him as hes had an injury already and is playing in a new team!
How many times have you heard Reina organise the back four?
ReplyDeletePepe Reina is still a world class Gk and still ahead of Mignolet in class, quality and stature in world football. He is on ridiculous wages and the last three seasons at club he was too incomplacent as he had no real class quality competition for his position at club. And in the back of his mind no matter how bad he performed he would be back in side following game if he was injury or suspension free and fully fit. And he was rightly shipped out this summer as he was on his way to Barcelona, before Valdez decide to stay at camp nou for another year.
ReplyDeleteB Rodgers should not sell P Reina(31) for no less than 10M, he is world class GK and has 8-9 years of good football still left in him.
Rodgers should sell P Reina(31) for 10m to Barcelona, NO LESS.
The only other option is to give them Reina(31) and take Montoya(22) and 5M sterling, No Less.
I hope club do not waste their time on Tello(22) ever again, we have been after the guy for two seasons now and the guy keeps rejecting us to sit on the bench at Nou Camp.
There are other wingers out there with class, creativity, goals, pace, speed to bring to the side instead of Tello(22):
Rodgers needs to bring in two out of these five wingers to club THIS January:
1: M Salah(21) Of Basel ( RW / RWF)
2: J Montero(24) Of Monarcas Morelia ( RW / RWF)
3: S Sam(23) Of Bayer Leverkusen ( LW / LWF)
4: B Arfa(26) Of Newcastle (LW / LWF)
5: D Capel(25) Of Sporting Clube De Portugal ( LW / LWF)
$15 million? Are you serious? Hope Barcelona doesn't get him, too overpriced and overrated. We should promote Masip or Oier instead!
ReplyDeleteIt's the overall cost that matters not the selling price. If Liverpool end up having to pay his wages for just one year that 's more than £5.5 mill down the drain, there's too much focus on the one fee and not the total bill.
ReplyDeleteNot true - Rafa wants him!
ReplyDeleteAh... but does Pepe really want Rafa?
ReplyDeleteOr does he want to go home to Barca?
I'm thinking Barca.