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Today in Liverpool, all football enthusiasts are discussing the new players acquired by the Champions League winners in recent years, among whom is the Spanish national team goalkeeper Jose Manuel Reina from the Spanish club "Villarreal."
22-year-old Reina, who arrived at "Villarreal" from "Barcos" in the summer of 2002, helped the team to take the third place in the Spanish championship ("La Liga") last season and at the same time qualify for the Champions League. The goalkeeper represented Spain in various age groups. In 1999, he won the European Championship up to the age of 16, and in March he stood for the first time in the goal of the Spanish national team. Reina was also the backup for Iker Casillas in the World Cup European zone qualifiers against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Lithuania.
Manager Rafael Benitez revealed the acquisition of Reina at a press conference after the presentation of Dutch national team member Boudewijn Zenden, who joined the Champions League winners as a free agent on July 1, 2004. "I am very happy to play for 'Liverpool'," said 28-year-old Zenden. "When a club like this wants to acquire you, there's no need to hesitate." The Dutchman played for "Middlesbrough" last season.
Benitez also revealed that next season the participants of the English championship will have a 20-year-old Chilean midfielder Mark Gonzalez (Mark Gonzalez) in their ranks. He will be loaned out for a year from the Spanish club "Albacete," as will 18-year-old defender Antonio Barragan (Antonio Barragan) from "Sevilla."
"Today we presented Bolo Zenden as a member of Liverpool, but we also acquired Jose Reina, the best Spanish goalkeeper, Mark Gonzalez, the best Chilean footballer, and Antonio Barragan," said Rafa Benitez. "We will buy another 2-3 players this week."
Regarding the ongoing rumors about Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard's future, Benitez added: "I can assure the team's fans that we want to keep Steven in our team for his entire career. I will extend my contract with Liverpool for four or five years and when that happens, I want Gerrard to be the assistant coach or the head coach of Liverpool when I no longer lead the team."
"We are trying to build a better team and I want our game to revolve around Stevie," Benitez continued. "Last season, I tried three times to persuade Steven to sign a new contract, but he always said 'let's wait,' so we waited. This year we want to win more trophies, so we are strengthening our squad."
However, according to the latest reports in the press, it seems that the compromise for Steven Gerrard's new contract has reached a critical point and he is ready to leave his current club. He is actively being pursued by London's Chelsea and Madrid's Real.
