Liverpool must sell for a fee that reflects goalkeeper’s true value

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It looks inevitable that Pepe Reina will leave Anfield but are they getting him for the right fee?

Pepe Reina has always been a popular figure at Liverpool but will spend the season on loan with former manager Rafa Benitez at Napoli – while Simon Mignolet replaces him in goal after arriving from Sunderland.

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Many thought the 1-0 win over QPR on the last day of the Premier League season would be the last time we would see Pepe Reina in a Liverpool shirt given that it would be hard to have two goalkeepers vying for the goalkeeping spot – especially with the likelihood of one of them commanding big wages yet not being played.

But with reports that Pepe Reina could be on his way out of Anfield permanently – with Barcelona in pole position to land him – for a fee around £5m seems to be on the cheap side.

Before Reina arrived at Anfield, there hadn’t been a goalkeeper who could command the area, act as a sweeper keeper and look so comfortable with the ball at his feet than perhaps since Bruce Grobbelaar.

Reina arrived at Anfield in 2005 from Villerreal for around £6m, and ever since he has won three golden gloves with Liverpool and has been talked about as one of the best goalkeepers in the world – even if he did suffer a loss of form in the past two seasons, something which he seems to be rediscovering in Serie A.

Even though he is now 31, Reina still has a good few years at the top level left in him, and should command a fee higher than was paid to bring him to Anfield in the first place.

But it seems that he is such a highly paid player that the club would like to get him off the wage bill relatively quickly with manager Brendan Rodgers evidently preferring Mignolet to Reina.

The fee of £4m seems too low, and even if Liverpool are in a hurry to get him off the books, they should at least hold out for a fee which actually reflects his talent.

image: © Eric The Fish (2013)