Rip-Off: LFC star's transfer value plummets by £16m in two years. Dodgy deal...?

Xabi Alonso aside, Liverpool have a history of getting stiffed on transfer fees for players who move from Anfield to La Liga. Steve McManaman left LFC for free, and who can forget the paltry £8m fee the Reds received for Michael Owen (along with the useless Antonio Nunez as a 'makeweight')? Pepe Reina is currently on loan at Napoli, but he's expected to move on again in the summer, and reports in Spain today suggest that Liverpool could be about to get ripped off once again.

According to Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo:

* Liverpool have agreed to sell £15m-rated Reina to Barcelona next summer for the piffling fee of €5m. That's Euros, not pounds (!)

* The fee will be made in two payments: €2.5m in 2014, and another €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, and if Liverpool agreed to that fee, then it's arguably transfer negligence on a par with Owen deal.

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.

When asked recently about his 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 weeks, several of the club's players have declared their public support. On Monday, 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."

Sergio Busquets also wants Reina at Barca. He told COPE Radio:

"He [Reina] is a great goalkeeper. If he comes it would be fine.”

Cesc Fabregas also supports the move. He 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."

There is speculation that Barca plan to sign two 'keepers - one young, and one older, experienced head - but if that transpires, I doubt Reina will want to spend the rest of his career nervously looking over his shoulder.

If Reina goes for €5m, is that an acceptable fee? In his autobiography last year, Reina revealed that Liverpool turned down a £20m offer from Arsenal in 2011. £20m to €5m in two years? That's a massive £16m loss in value, which seems a little extreme.

Jaimie Kanwar

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