Pepe Reina keen on leaving Liverpool for Barcelona – just ask his dad

Posted Tuesday, January 22, 2013 by Metro.co.uk

Pepe Reina keen on leaving Liverpool for Barcelona – just ask his dad
Tightlipped: But Reina’s dad has spoken out

Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina’s dad has risked the wrath of Kop fans by admitting his son would love a return to Barcelona.

The Spanish giants have been linked with a bid for their former youth-team product in 2014 after current No.1 Victor Valdes revealed he would not be renewing his contract when it expires that summer.

Reina was a contemporary of Valdes – who has been linked with Liverpool – in the Barcelona youth ranks and father Miguel, who also kept goal for the Catalan club, has revealed Pepe would find it hard to resist the call of home.

‘I am absolutely convinced Pepe would be more than delighted to return to his Barcelona, where they made him into an upstanding man from the time he arrived at the age of 12 until he left,’ Miguel Reina told La Xerxa radio.

Exit strategy: Victor Valdes will leave Barcelona next year

‘I say it publicly, I would be delighted to see Pepe back at Barca, of course I would. What father would not like to see his son at Barca? He has already been there but to return would be extraordinary.’

Reina made his Barcelona debut at the age of 18 before joining Villarreal in 2002 and eventually signed for Liverpool three years later. The keeper, now 30, signed a new six-year deal at Anfield in 2010.

‘Pepe has shown sufficient proof of the calibre of goalkeeper he is and right now, and sorry for the lack of modesty, he would be up to the task and the ideal keeper for FC Barcelona without a shadow of a doubt,’ his father added.