Liverpool Will Let Spanish Star Leave For €5m – Report
Liverpool have told Barcelona they will need to pay €5m to land Pepe Reina next summer as the keeper looks likely to depart Merseyside permanently in 2014.
Reina was sent on loan to Napoli this season after the Reds purchased Simon Mignolet from Sunderland early in the 2013 summer transfer window. At first Brendan Rodgers claimed he wanted to bring more competition to the goalkeeping department but the manager then sent Reina to work with former manager Rafa Benitez.
Rodgers has since admitted that he had to do so for financial reasons and though Reina has expressed his dissatisfaction with being sent away from Liverpool he has always said that he would relish in a move to Barcelona.
Reports have been circulating that with Victor Valdes set to leave the Catalan giants they had preferred to take Borussia Monchengladbach keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen but Mundo Deportivo is reporting that Liverpool have in fact agreed a fee with €5m to send Reina back to his boyhood club.
The Spaniard will certainly be pleased with the prospect of a move to the European giants with Barcelona pushing for trophies while the Reds attempt to get back in the mix for Champions League qualification.
The paper also claims that Rodgers anticipated that Reina would return to Barcelona last summer, hence why he signed Mignolet to give Liverpool a ready-made replacement with Premier League experience and the potential for long-term success.
Barcelona reportedly see Reina as a bargain at €5m, with the 31 year old having been an important part of Liverpool's set up for many years and continuing to show top-class form with Napoli, where he has kept four clean sheets in their first nine games to help the side stay in the mix for top spot in the Serie A table.
And with Rodgers lauding the efforts of Mignolet, who has quickly settled into the number one position for Liverpool and got the fans on side with a penalty save in his debut for the club, it would appear that Reina's future is at the very least lies away from Anfield.
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