REINA SET FOR NAPOLI

Liverpool are extremely close to losing goalkeeper Pepe Reina for the season after the Spaniard is set to move to Napoli on a season-long loan deal. The arrival of Simon Mignolet from Sunderland for around £ 9 million has put the future of Reina at Anfield under a major doubt. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has revealed that they had no other option but to look at bringing in Mignolet to the club. Reina has been linked with a move to Barcelona ever since Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes revealed his intentions to leave the club.

Rodgers has said that Liverpool started searching for a replacement to Reina in the anticipation that they would soon received a bid from Barcelona, but that has not materialised yet. This put Liverpool in a tough situation because Mignolet seemed a great fit for the club, and it was hard to not sign him given his age and qualities. Once brought into the club, Mignolet and Reina were going to be fighting for the same position. Since the 2014 World Cup was only 12 months away, Reina needed to play regularly in order to make it into the Spain squad.

Rodgers has said that the only option at this moment was a loan deal, which has reunited Reina with his former manager Rafa Benitez.

“It was obviously a difficult decision. From last season I was led to believe that we were going to get an offer for Pepe that would probably see him leave the club. As events transpired, that move (for Reina) didn’t happen and it left us with two very good goalkeepers. Both would have been fighting for the No.1 position. An opportunity arose for Pepe and it was one we felt as a football club was best for him to take,” said Rodgers.