Report explains why Newcastle United’s Rafael Benitez was desperate to sign Pepe Reina

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It wasn’t just Reina’s reflexes that had Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez keen on a summer move for the Napoli glovesman.

Newcastle United’s pursuit of Napoli goalkeeper Pepe Reina went right down to the last week of the transfer window but, in the end, The Magpies were forced to accept that they had missed out on yet another of manager Rafael Benitez’s top summer targets.

According to The Sun, Benitez was counting on signing the Spaniard, who he brought to Liverpool in 2005 and worked with in Naples, as he aimed to put a new number one in place for Newcastle’s return to the Premier League.

However, once September 1^st rolled around, Reina was still a Napoli player and Newcastle had failed to fulfil one of Benitez’s primary summer priorities – sign a new goalkeeper.

And it wasn’t just Reina’s evergreen reflexes or superb distribution that made him one of the first names on his former Liverpool gaffer’s transfer hit list. According to The Chronicle, Reina’s dressing room presence and upbeat personality were major reasons why Benitez had his heart set on a reunion at Tyneside.

Though a serious competitor, the 34-year-old is a famously buoyant and dominant voice in the dressing room, which encouraged Vicente Del Bosque to make him part of Spain’s victorious European Championship squads, as well as the 2010 World Cup team as third-choice ‘keeper.

Reina acted as something of a master of ceremonies as La Roja lifted three successive international tournaments and it’s this fun-loving attitude that could have provided a crucial boost to morale in what could be a tough season on Tyneside.

The report adds that Benitez was also inspired by his ability to exude calm in the defence – a quality the error-prone though talented Karl Darlow does not provide in abundance.