José Reyes

José Antonio Reyes Calderón (born September 1, 1983 in Utrera, Seville) is a Spain Football (soccer) who currently plays for Spanish club Atlético Madrid. He is also a member of the Spain national football team.

Club career

Early career

Born into a Romani people family in Utrera, a town south-east of Seville, Reyes joined the youth ranks of Seville club 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 at the age of 15. Reyes made his senior debut a year later as a substitute in a game against Real Zaragoza and was later called up to Spain's under-17 youth national team for the UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship.

Reyes established his reputation as a versatile Striker, playing either as a left Midfielder Winger or a striker Deep-lying forwards. His 22 goals in 86 matches, over four seasons at Sevilla led to other clubs taking notice, but Reyes' popularity with the club's fans made a move to a bigger Spanish club politically difficult for Sevilla FC's club president.

Arsenal

Despite Sevilla manager Joaquín Caparrós wishing to hang onto him, Reyes signed with England club Arsenal F.C] during the January transfer window of the 2003-04 in English football. The £10.5m fee was negotiated with top ups, depending on the success of Arsenal, which could rise to £17m.

He made his debut on February 1 2004 in a 2-1 win over Manchester City F.C.. Two days later, he scored an own goal against Middlesbrough F.C. in the Carling Cup. Later that month, Reyes scored twice against Chelsea F.C. to knock them out of the FA Cup. He also scored against Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal, and his goals in the penultimate two games of the season helped keep The Invincibles (football) in the FA Premier League going.

Hat tricks in friendly match during the summer 2004 showed his improvement and Reyes was a prominent influence on Arsenal's impressive start to the 2004-05 in English football, 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 F.C. at Old Trafford (football ground). 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, he was reported to be Homesickness while at Arsenal, even though José's parents Mari and Francisco as well as brother Jesús lived with him in England. During a prank call perpetrated by COPE Radio of Spain in February 2005, a prankster claiming to be the president of Spanish club Real Madrid 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 not 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.

On May 21 2005, Reyes became the only 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.

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."

In Arsenal's UEFA Champions League 2005-06 run, Reyes featured heavily against, among others, Real Madrid, Juventus F.C] and Villarreal CF, in the most impressive Champions League results for Arsenal to date. He came on as a substitute in the May 17, 2006 final against Spanish champions F.C. Barcelona, which Arsenal lost 2-1. However, in August 2006 he expressed a desire not to play in Arsenal's UEFA Champions League 2006-07 qualifying match against Dynamo Zagreb - to do so would render him 'cup-tied' and complicate a move to Real Madrid.
Wenger left him out of the team, thus fuelling speculation that a transfer was soon to be agreed.

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. Reyes further hinted towards a transfer to Real Madrid. 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 Arsène 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.

Reyes scored his first goal for Real Madrid on September 17 2006 with a free kick against Real Sociedad.

On the final day of the 2006-07 season, the focus was on David Beckham in his final match for Real but Reyes, in the final game of his loan spell, came on as a substitute for the injured Beckham, scoring with his first touch and again later on. Real came back from a 1-0 deficit to win 3-1, claiming the La Liga title. It had been rumoured that he may leave for Olympique Lyonnais.

Real Madrid appointed former Getafe CF coach Bernd Schuster on July 8 2007 increasing the chances that Reyes would sign a permanent deal and stay in Spain.

Atletico Madrid

However, reports surfacing on July 29 indicated that Madrid rivals Atletico Madrid were on the verge of landing the player. Later that day, Wenger confirmed that Reyes's departure was imminent, and that a more specific announcement would be made "shortly".

On July 30, Reyes passed his medical. He was unveiled on July 31 as an Atletico player for the next four years. It is believed Arsenal will receive €12m (£8.1m) for the transfer. Reyes made his debut for Atlético in a match against Lazio Roma, in which he scored a goal and made an assist in a 3-1 victory in the annual Amsterdam Tournament. Reyes has had previous success in this pre-season tournament, being named player of the tournament in the 2004 Amsterdam Tournament while playing for Arsenal. Ironically, Arsenal were winners of the 2007 Amsterdam Tournament.

International career

Reyes earned his first full cap in September 2003 against Portugal national football team. However, he was left out of Iñaki Sáez's 2004 European Football Championship squad. Although Reyes has been picked consistently in national team squads, he has only 20 caps and 4 goals. He is not a regular starter, due to current national team coach Luis Aragonés' preference to play Fernando Torres, David Villa, and Luis Javier García Sanz up front. Most recently, Reyes played in the 2006 FIFA World Cup game against Saudi Arabia national football team.

Club career statistics

Honours

Sevilla:
- Segunda División 2000-01
Arsenal:
- FA Premier League 2003-04
- FA Cup 2005
- UEFA Champions League runner-up 2005-06
Real Madrid:
- La Liga 2006-2007