Jose Antonio Reyes (footballer) is a striker of the Spanish club Espanyol. Also very often acts as a left winger (a football player who plays all the way to the left, working both in defense and in attack).
Jose Antonio Reyes: Biography
Born September 1, 1983 in Utrera, Spain. Since childhood, he loved to play football, so his parents sent him to the section. Young Jose Antonio Reyes showed a good game, the guy was endowed with incredible talent. At the age of ten, he joined the youth football club Sevilla (Spain). Here he continued to play, gradually moving through all the age categories of the youth team.
The first professional he signed in 1999, but could not gain a foothold in the base. In two seasons of the Spanish championship, Jose Antonio Reyes entered the field only a couple of times. Then he gradually got in shape, gained experience, and in the following seasons he was released in the starting lineup much more often. From 2001 to 2004 (for three football seasons of the championship of Spain), Jose played 84 matches forSevilla, of which he managed to score 22 goals.
Contract with London Arsenal
After bright and brilliant goals, Reyes aroused considerable interest from the "big" clubs in Europe. The football giants of the top championships fought for a contract with a fast-footed young striker. In the fall of 2004, the London Arsenal (England) became such a lucky man, who signed a three-year contract with the Spanish striker for $ 30 million. José Antonio Reyes made his debut for the Gunners on February 2, 2004, in a principled duel against Manchester City, then the match ended with an aggregate score of 2-1 in favor of City. Reyes gave all his best, but failed to score a goal. The debut goal for Arsenal happened very soon - in a couple of days. The Gunners received guests from the city of Middlesbrough (the club of the same name). The match ended 5-3 in favor of the hosts, with José Antonio Reyes (pictured below) scoring a goal 65 minutes into the match.
In the English championship, the Spanish winger played almost three seasons (23 goals in 110 matches). Thanks to the friendly and simulated London tandem, in which Reyes was directly involved, Arsenal became the champion of the English football championship in the 2003/2004 season, and also the owner of the FA Cup in the 2004/2005 season. It is also noteworthy that in the 2006 UEFA Champions League Cup Arsenal reached the final, but lost to the Spanish Barcelona with a score of 2-1.
Jose Antonio Reyes is a player of the Spanish club Real Madrid
After the end of the English championship 2005/2006, the football press began to dazzle with news that the royal club from Spain "Real Madrid" is interested in Antonio José Reyes. The Spanish striker has repeatedly stated that he wants to return to his homeland and will gladly move to the Madrid club. The English and Spanish media continued to write about Reyes' possible move. And yet it happened. Londoners head coach Arsene Vergen did not want to let the Spaniard go for a long time, but his patience ran out. As a result, the Arsenal management decided to send the player to Real Madrid, but with several conditions:
- Jose Antonio Reyes joins the Creamy squad, but the legal ownership of the player remains with Arsenal.
- In exchange for Reyes, Real Madrid give the Gunners their midfielder Julio Baptista.
Football media gossip
Football year in Spain turned out to be incredibly successful for Reyes. The 2006/2007 La Liga season ended with the triumph of Real Madrid. Reyes played for the "creamy" 30 matches, in which he managed to distinguish himself by scoring a goal 6 times. In the last round of the Spanish championship, Real Madrid met with Mallorca. This game was decisive for the further championship of the royal club. As a result, the match ended with a score of 3-1 in favor of Madrid, and Jose Reyes scored two beautiful goals.
Soon there were rumors in the football media that the Spanish winger was in talks with French club Olympique Lyon. For unknown reasons, the deal fell through, and soon the player receives a new offer from Atlético Madrid. At the end of July 2007Jose Reyes signs a 4-year contract with the Mattresses. The amount of the transfer deal was $15 million, which went to Arsenal.
Successful career for the Indians (Atletico Madrid)
In the new club, Reyes quickly became his own, but for many reasons he could not enter the base of the "mattress" for a long time (injuries, recovery and personnel competition). In 2010, Atlético Madrid became champions of the Europa League. In the same year, the Italian Inter became the owner of the Champions League Cup. The teams met on August 27 as part of the final stage of the UEFA Super Cup. The match ended in favor of Madrid with a total score of 2-0, where Reyes scored a goal.
Transfer to Sevilla
In early 2012, the Spaniard signs a new contract with Sevilla for two and a half years. The transfer deal was worth $4 million. Together with Sevilla, Jose Antonio Reyes became the champion of the Europa League in the 2014/2015 season. This event was a record for José Antonio - he became the first and only player who managed to win the UEFA Cup / Europa League as many as 5 times.
At the end of June 2016, 32-year-old Reyes signed a two-year contract with Espanyol.
