Pepe Reina says his Liverpool career is over

Pepe Reina has been in stellar form for Napoli

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina, who is currently on-loan at Napoli, has admitted that his chances of returning to Anfield are slim, The Daily Mail reports.

The 31-year-old has rejoined ex-Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez at the Italian club and has been in excellent form for Napoli, keeping out Mario Balotelli‘s penalty, and handing Napoli their first win against AC Milan at the San Siro in 27 years. Liverpool sent out Reina on loan in spite on the Spanish shot-stopper keeping seven clean sheets in ten games.

‘It did come as a surprise,’ said Reina. ‘It was the club [Liverpool] who made the move. I was on my holidays and nobody told me anything. Suddenly Napoli called and said they were agreeing terms with Liverpool and Liverpool just rang me two days later and said the same. They probably had their own reasons.’

Benitez intends to make the loan move permanent but may find it hard with Barcelona setting their sights on Reina to replace the outgoing Victor Valdes.

When asked whether he could return to Liverpool, Reina was quoted as saying: ‘No,’ he said. ‘At the moment it’s difficult to think about being a Liverpool player next year. They have a young goalkeeper in Simon Mignolet and the manager prefers him to me.

‘That’s the reason why I’m here and he will be at the club next year as well. There’s no reason to think I’ll be a Liverpool player from now on but we’ll see where the future takes us. It’s been a good move so far and I don’t regret what happened. I would have preferred to say goodbye in a different way.’

The signing of Mignolet has come as a surprise due to Brenden Rodgers previously stating that Reina was the undisputed first choice keeper of the club.

‘His best years are in front of him, not behind him,’ said Rodgers, in December.

‘He is working harder than ever, he has lost weight, he looks fresh, he looks bright, he is doing extra work and it is a great step forward to him and his commitment in terms of him staying at Liverpool.’

The Madrid born keeper was a youth product of Barcelona’s famous La Masia academy before joining Liverpool where he won the Premier League Golden Glove for three consecutive seasons since his signing in 2005.