Napoli-bound Pepe Reina has sent an emotional open letter to the fans of Liverpool FC which has been published on his personal website.
In the letter, Reina puts forward his side of the story regarding the loan deal which sees him reunite with former Reds boss, Rafa Benitez, in Italy, and his ‘disappointment’ in leaving the club and the city he’s called home since 2005.
Thanks for everything Pepe, you will be truly missed.
Goodbye letter for Liverpool’s fans: “Thanks for everything, I will see you soon”
It is a strange feeling for me to think that next season I will not be a Liverpool player. For the past eight years, that is all I have known. The club, the staff, the city, the people and the supporters have played a massive part in my life. Liverpool is special in a way that only those who are lucky enough to experience the club close up can understand. It has given me memories that will live with me forever and friendships that will last just as long.
But more than anything else, it has given me an understanding of what it is like to play for the most wonderful English club. I may not have won as many trophies and medals as I would have liked since joining in 2005 but the experiences I have been a part of are as important as any silverware. I now understand how supporters can lift a team and inspire them to do special things. I appreciate that there is something unique about Anfield and the atmosphere it creates. I believe that anything is possible no matter what the situation is because at Liverpool there is no such thing as a lost cause. And I have been humbled by the fight for justice for the 96 which showed me that the Liverpool people will always fight for what they believe in.
I know that I have been blessed to be part of a Club like that and I hope that in return I have always given my best and represented Liverpool in the right way. There have been good times and bad times but no matter what the situation has been I hope that my passion has been clear. I have been asked what my favourite Liverpool moment was and if I had to pick one it wouldn’t be a save or winning a trophy. It would be my celebration against Manchester United when David Ngog scored a late goal. That is probably the quickest I have ever run in my life! It shows what playing for Liverpool meant to me and also that there was nothing better than winning a big game at Anfield. I used to look at the Kop when we scored those kind of goals in big games and I would be jealous of the supporters going crazy. If the closest I will get to that is running the length of the pitch and jumping on my team mates backs then that will do for me.
Obviously, I won’t be able to do that next season but I hope that the supporters and my team mates will be able to enjoy many more moments like that. They deserve the best of times and it would give me so much pleasure to see Liverpool back where they belong, challenging for trophies and getting back into the top four. That was where the club was when I first arrived and although I am leaving a different club, one with new owners, a new manager, new players and new challenges, I honestly believe that Liverpool can reach those levels again.
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I am disappointed that I will not be part of that and although it was not my decision to leave I will accept it just like I have always accepted any decision that Liverpool have taken for me. They signed me, picked me, gave me some of the best experiences of my life and looked after me. If they feel that the best thing for me and for them is for me to go on loan to Napoli for a season then so be it. Napoli is a new challenge for me and I know that the fans are just as passionate about their team as the Liverpool fans, so I am really looking forward to playing for them this season and I will give my all.
But if I have one regret, it is the way that I am leaving. It is only natural that I would be disappointed that the Liverpool management agreed to loan me to Napoli without telling me first, I thought that I deserved better than that even though I understand that difficult decisions have to be taken in football. A lot has been made about me informing the club that if an offer came in from Barcelona that I would have liked them to consider it. But I had also spoken to the club about the possibility of extending my contract if the offer was not made. I told the manager that I wanted to play for Liverpool and that Barcelona would only become an option for me if the opportunity arrived, like the rumours said it would, as it would be a chance for me to go back home. When it didn’t come I was happy to fight for my place so I was surprised that Liverpool decided it was in the club´s interests to send me to Napoli instead.
None of this will change my feelings for the club or the people in any way and now I have to look forward to a new challenge with Rafa Benitez, who I consider to be the best manager I have worked with, and I am fortunate to be going from one great club to another. Napoli remind me in many ways of the Liverpool I found in 2005, in all the affection they have shown me on my arrival, in having an ambitious project, even in coinciding and working with Benitez again…This memory which in part unites me with you, makes me happy and feel very motivated to begin this new project.
This is my chance to say thank you to everyone for everything that you have given to me and to my family. My children consider Liverpool to be their home and hopefully their love for the city and also for the club will only grow while we are away. I would have liked to have been able to say goodbye in a different way but because of the way the move came about this was not possible.
Maybe in the near future I can do it properly so that I can show my appreciation to you but all I would ask now is that you keep on inspiring the manager and the players just like you always have done and help Liverpool to become the club that you deserve once again. I would like nothing better than to come back at the end of my year away and for Liverpool to be back where they belong.
Thank you for everything. Good luck. I will see you soon.
Pepe Reina.
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VERY EMOTIONAL FROM PEPE, 1 OF THE BEST!
But if barca came in late threw the transfer window, we would of been left in a very difficult moment , a Torres moment! Because a goalie is as important as the striker, so although very sad to see him go , I think it was a good decision by Brendan , CLUB MATTERS MORE THAN PLAYERS.
One bitter Pepe.
Buty it is no coincidence that he is going to Napoli. How much was he unaware of the deal?
wel i belived the maniger i think he knows the best for the term
pepe reina one of the best, said it all though in a professional manner, hopefully it wld aid in clearing the specks off some of our fans eyes. love the manchester thing under rafa (did it twice)
Love the man. Ill be back 🙂
Should have been treated a little differently but “I told the Manager that Barcelona would only become an option for me if the opportunity arrived”. The word “Option” says it all.
We hope you shine at Napoli – & the Reds and Barca come knocking again and any decision you make is what you and your family are hoping for. YNWA Pepe
Good riddance! Reina is a *goalie. Lets get behind our new goalkeeper, Simon Mignolet…
Don’t Call Us We Will Call You Thank You Very Much . Good luck To Napoli They Will Need It . Top Four Forshure To Liverpool Now .
just wat i had suspected all along. Reina didnt wan 2 leave liverpool.he wants 2 stay & fight for his place..The management thought otherwise. They cant afford his salary.in fact they are looking 2 sell him off 2 barcelona. They only manage 2 get a loan offer from Napoli.I think they really screw up big time on e goalkeeper. They should not have signed on e new goalkeeper if reina was going 2 b with us for another year.
Sorry Pepe, love you buddy. But we were waiting around to see if you could find a better husband and then choose me as your consolation prize.
Good luck in the future.
HE was angling for a move to Barca that didnt materialize, how is he any different from Suarez? Why all this emotional bull****? Read between the lines, he’s looking for sympathy Torres-style. Oh, and how much of a coincidence he goes to Benitez? They have been in regular contact, some would call it ‘tapping up’.
Really, this is touching.. Reina, tank u fr er tin, we admire your work nd ynwa all d way… Its a new era, beginning, history nd philosophy.. Not that u don’t fit into it bt its time we give anoda goalie a trial… Tanks jose!!! U da best ve ever seen in a liverpool shirt!!
Great letter that shows a lot of affection for the club and fans but it does read a bit like Pepe was trying to have his cake and eat it…. Unfortunately for Reina his Barca move didn’t happen and then he wants to extend his contract etc. but his goose was already cooked (second food idiom… I must be hungry) especially given his high wages and lower performance levels of late. So it’s a bit disingenuous of him to claim he was “surprised” by the loan decision but if he wasn’t told before it was agreed then that is pretty poor. Still he scores a sharp one back by pointing that Rafa is the best manager he’s worked with….ouch! Best of luck to him, and Rafa, at Napoli.
Honestly i personally dont like the way our management push Reina out of club,is very unfear.It shows that we dont have respect for legend,i no that he was planing to join Bacca but atleast we could’ve show him some respect because serve us for eigth good years
It was BR again ruining our LFC !!!
What planet you on he was trying to engineer a move to barca, so your sayin , WE SHOULDN’T OF BOUGHT A NEW KEEPER, AND KEPT REINA, AND THEN COME END OF WINDOW , WHEN BARCA CAME KNOCKING AND HE WENT, AND WE HAVE GOT NO KEEPER, SO THEN YOU JUMP ON RODGERS BACK AND SAY ITS HIS FAULT BECAUSE HE KNEW REINA WAS GOING ! CAN’T WIN WITH SOME OF YOU’s !
Spot on red. Rodgers is a fookin disgrace
And your a *manc, like the way you put
” LIVERPOOL FAN ” as your name
And you can’t spell , if you was a proper lfc fan you wouldn’t be on the managers back for the sake of a want away player!
Reina is a class legend for our club . A man of dignity and integrity. A great guy
Rodgers is a moron who has done nothing for LFC
I agree …it’s a sad day when a great character and player like Reina leaves. Whilst a ly ing useless idiot like Rodgers is still at our club
He did say he wanted to go to barcelona. Unfortunately for him valdes stayed and he will go to barca when valdes moves on. If barca had wanted him he’d have gone so I can’t feel too sorry for him. He should have said nothing about wanting to go to barca
Only a few days Rodgers was trying to explain that it was Reina who insisted the move. So who is telling you the truth ?
Rodgers doesnt do truth