It’s been 20 years since Rafael Benitez took charge of Liverpool, but one of his earliest signings for the Reds is still going strong.
A few weeks after our unforgettable Champions League triumph in Istanbul in 2005, Pepe Reina arrived from Villarreal and became a hero at Anfield over his eight-year stay at the club.
The Spanish goalkeeper is now 41 but, far from slipping into retirement, has just completed his latest transfer, marking the end of his second spell at the LaLiga outfit by joining Como, who were promoted to Serie A this summer (as per The Athletic).
It’s a testament to his longevity that he’s actually four years older than his manager, former Spain teammate Cesc Fabregas.
Como becomes the ninth club of Reina’s professional career, which began all of 24 years ago at Barcelona and has taken in the likes of Bayern Munich, Lazio, Napoli and of course Liverpool, who he joined four months before Ben Doak was even born.
As outlined by The Athletic, the goalkeeper has played 977 matches at senior level when his 36 international caps are included, so he’s only 23 appearances away from hitting the rare landmark of 1,000 games.
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There’s no guarantee that he’ll achieve that feat, as he played only 12 times for Villarreal last season, but to even come within touching distance of it is still incredible.
Like Caoimhin Kelleher, Reina has gone down in Liverpool legend for his formidable record in penalty shootouts, famously coming to the fore against West Ham in the 2006 FA Cup final, Chelsea in the Champions League semi-finals a year later and Cardiff in the 2012 EFL Cup showpiece.
Huge credit is due to the evergreen Spaniard for preserving his senior career to the extent that he’ll still be playing at 42, the age that he’ll reach at the end of August. Here’s hoping he enjoys a successful spell with Como, who’ve pulled off a notable coup by bringing him to the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia.
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