Football Player's Biography 7: José Antonio Reyes

Full name	José Antonio Reyes Calderón
Date of birth	1 September 1983 (1983-09-01) (age 27)
Place of birth	Utrera, Spain
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Winger

José Antonio Reyes Calderón (born 1 September 1983) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Atlético Madrid.
Mainly a left winger but also a forward, he made his professional debuts for hometown's Sevilla FC at only 16, signing with England's Arsenal aged 20.
After a relatively successful career abroad, Reyes returned to his country, going on to represent both main sides in Madrid, Real and Atlético, also having a short loan spell in Portugal.

Club career

Early career

Born in Utrera, south-east Seville, to Spanish Kale (Gitanos) parents,^[1]^[2]^[3] Reyes joined the youth ranks of local Sevilla FC at the age of 10. His talent was identified, and he represented the club at all youth levels.
He finally signed a full contract in 1999, making his full squad debuts during 1999–2000 at just 16, in a game against Real Zaragoza, and was later called up to Spain's squad for the UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship. With the Andalusians now in Segunda División, he added another first-team club appearance.
After Sevilla promoted, Reyes established his reputation as a versatile offensive unit in the following years, his 22 goals in 86 matches over four seasons at Sevilla leading to other clubs taking notice, although the player's popularity with the club's fans made a move to a bigger Spanish club politically difficult for Sevilla's club president.

Arsenal

Despite Sevilla manager Joaquín Caparrós wishing to hang onto him, Reyes signed with English club Arsenal during the January transfer window of the 2003–04 season. The £10.5 million transfer fee was negotiated with top ups, depending on the success of Arsenal, which could have risen to £17 million.^[4]
He made his debut on 1 February 2004 in a 2–1 win over Manchester City; two days later, he scored an own goal against Middlesbrough in the Football League Cup. Later that month, Reyes scored twice against Chelsea to knock them out of the FA Cup. He also scored against Chelsea in the the season's UEFA Champions League quarterfinals, and his goals in the penultimate two games of the season helped keep Arsenal's unbeaten run in the Premier League going.
Hat-tricks in friendlies during the summer 2004 showed his improvement, and Reyes was a prominent influence on Arsenal's impressive start to the 2004–05 season, in which he managed to score in each of the first six games. However, Reyes struggled during the middle of the season after Arsenal's defeat by Manchester United at Old Trafford. His inconsistent performance brought little reward for much of the season, and yet towards the end of it he scored three valuable goals.
In early 2005, Reyes was reported to be homesick while at Arsenal, even though his parents, Mari and Francisco, as well as brother Jesús lived with him in England. During a prank call perpetrated by Cadena COPE Radio of Spain in February 2005, a prankster claiming to be Emilio Butragueño, at the time director of football of Real Madrid, speaking on behalf of the president of the club, reportedly called Reyes' agent and spoke to Reyes himself about a possible transfer deal. In the ensuing conversation, Reyes allegedly declared that life in London was far from what he had envisioned and he would welcome a move back to his native Spain. Reyes also supposedly said that he wanted out of the club as there were "bad people" at Arsenal.^[5]
On 21 May 2005, Reyes became only the second player in history (after Kevin Moran) to be sent off in an FA Cup final, when he was dismissed for a second yellow card shortly before the end of extra time against Manchester United, though Arsenal still went on to win the game in a penalty shootout.
He temporarily ended speculation about a move away from Highbury in July 2005, when he signed a new six-year contract and declared that he was "looking forward to having many more successful years at the club." ^[6]
In Arsenal's 2005–06 Champions League run, Reyes featured heavily against, among others, Real Madrid, Juventus and Villarreal CF in the most impressive Champions League results for Arsenal to date. He came on as a substitute in the 17 May 2006 final against FC Barcelona, which Arsenal lost 2–1. However, in August 2006, he expressed a desire not to play in Arsenal's Champions League qualifying match against NK Dinamo Zagreb – to do so would render him 'cup-tied' and complicate a move to Real Madrid.^[7] Club manager Arsène Wenger left him out of the team, thus fuelling speculation that a transfer was soon to be agreed.

Real Madrid

Reyes was linked to Real Madrid along with Arsenal teammate Cesc Fàbregas in the summer of 2006, when the candidate Arturo Baldasano of the then on-going Real Madrid presidential campaign claimed he would sign them, if elected.^[8] Reyes further hinted towards a transfer to Real. After making two official statements on Arsenal's website denying media reports of being unhappy, alleged quotes from Reyes in the Spanish press contradicted his denials. This tested the patience of Wenger, who reacted angrily to Real Madrid's attempts to unsettle his player, suggesting that it was not the first time Real Madrid had used the media and agents in Spain as a destabilising tactic. Shortly before the closure of the 2006 summer transfer window, Madrid and Arsenal agreed to exchange Reyes for Brazilian international Júlio Baptista, each on a season-long loan deal.^[9]
Reyes scored his first goal for Real Madrid on 17 September 2006, with a free kick against Real Sociedad, in a 2–0 home win. On the final day of the season, the focus was on soon-to-be-departed David Beckham and Roberto Carlos, but Reyes, brought from the bench for injured Beckham, netted twice as Real came from behind to beat RCD Mallorca and claim yet another La Liga title.
Real Madrid appointed former Getafe CF coach Bernd Schuster on 8 July 2007, increasing the chances that Reyes would sign a permanent deal and stay in Spain.^[10]

Atlético Madrid

However, reports surfacing on 29 July indicated that city-rivals Atlético Madrid were on the verge of landing the player. Later that day, Wenger confirmed that Reyes' departure was imminent, and that a more specific announcement would be made shortly.^[11] On 30 July, Reyes passed his medical, penning a four-year deal, reportedly worth €12 million.^[12] He made his club debut against S.S. Lazio, scoring and assist once in a 3–1 victory in the annual Amsterdam Tournament (while at Arsenal, he was named the tournament's MVP in its 2004 edition). Reyes' first campaign with the Colchoneros was disastrous, as he was often barred by Maxi Rodríguez and Simão Sabrosa, failing to score a single goal in 26 league appearances.
On 8 August 2008, S.L. Benfica announced the signing of Reyes on a one-year loan deal. The Portuguese also bought 25% of his playing rights for a fee of €2.65 million, and ensured a buying option of the remainder 75% for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut in a friendly match against Feyenoord. He replaced Jonathan Urretavizcaya in the 79th minute and, a minute afterwards, following a cross from Ariza Makukula, he made a volley which hit the post. His debut goal for Benfica was scored against city-rivals Sporting Clube de Portugal on 28 September 2008: after an understanding between Reyes and Pablo Aimar, and a pass from the same, he scored in fashion. Later in the same week, he would score again against S.S.C. Napoli, helping Benfica to a 2–0 home triumph in the the season's UEFA Cup first round – the Reds eventually won 4–3 on aggregate.
Reyes' return to Atlético proved to be much more successful, as he re-united with Quique Sánchez Flores, his manager at Benfica from the previous season. He scored his first official goal in Spain in more than two years on 9 January 2010, with a long-range effort at Real Valladolid, in a 4–0 triumph. By then, he had beaten the competition of Maxi and started in the wings alongside Simão.
On 14 February 2010, Reyes put in a Man of the match performance in Atlético's 2–1 win against FC Barcelona,^[13] setting up the opening goal for Diego Forlán in the eventual champions' only league defeat of the season. Four days later, in the Europa League 1–1 home draw against Galatasaray SK, he scored a stunning free kick from the right wing on the 22nd minute, after he was brought down just outside the box (3–2 aggregate win). On 28 March, he curled in a left-footed shot from the right wing just inside the box, opening the score in the Madrid derby against his former team, in an eventual 2–3 loss.
On 27 August 2010, Reyes opened the score in the 2010 UEFA Super Cup against F.C. Internazionale Milano (eventually 2–0 win), after a one-two combination with Argentine Sergio Agüero.^[14] His first league goal of the season came in a 1–4 defeat at Hércules CF on 9 January 2011,^[15] which inspired an impressive run of scoring form, with goals in successive home games in February/March, against Valencia CF,^[16] former club Sevilla^[17] and Villarreal CF.^[18]

International career

Reyes earned his first full cap for Spain on September 6, 2003, replacing Raúl during a 3–0 friendly win in Portugal; he would be left out of Iñaki Sáez's UEFA Euro 2004 squad.
Two years later, he was picked for the FIFA World Cup, but only appeared once in four matches – the 1–0 group stage win against Saudi Arabia, with Spain already qualified as first.
Reyes was again overlooked for the victorious Euro 2008 tournament, as manager Luis Aragonés preferred the likes of David Silva and Santi Cazorla on the wings.