José Antonio Reyes

José Antonio Reyes Calderón (Spanish pronunciation: [xoˈse anˈtonjo ˈreʝes kaldeˈɾon]; 1 September 1983 – 1 June 2019) was a Spanish professional footballer who played mainly as a left winger and also as a forward.

He made his debut for Sevilla aged 16 and signed for English club Arsenal in January 2004, winning the Premier League and FA Cup in his spell in London. He returned to Spain in September 2006, on loan with Real Madrid, where he won La Liga. He then moved to Atlético Madrid, and won the Europa League twice. He also had a short loan spell in Portugal with Benfica, before re-joining Sevilla late in his career and winning the Europa League another three times, reaching a record individual total of five. He later had spells with Espanyol, Córdoba, Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard and Extremadura.

Reyes earned 21 caps for Spain, and played at the 2006 World Cup. He died in June 2019 at the age of 35 in a car crash.

Club career

Sevilla

Born in Utrera, Province of Seville to Romani parents, Reyes joined the youth ranks of local Sevilla at the age of ten, and went on to represent the club at all youth levels.

Reyes finally signed a full contract in 1999, making his first-team debut during the 1999–2000 season at the age of 16, against Real Zaragoza. He was later called up to Spain's squad for the UEFA European Under-17 Championship, where he scored one goal in the group stage.

With the Andalusians now in Segunda División, Reyes added another appearance. After they were promoted, he established his reputation as a versatile attacking unit in the following years, his 21 La Liga goals over four seasons leading to other teams taking notice.

Arsenal

Despite Sevilla manager Joaquín Caparrós's wishes to retain him, Reyes signed with English side Arsenal during the January transfer window of the 2003–04 campaign. A £10.5 million transfer fee was negotiated with bonuses, depending on the success of Arsenal, which eventually rose to £17 million.

He made his debut on 1 February 2004 in a 2–1 win over Manchester City, and two days later he scored an own goal against Middlesbrough in the Football League Cup. Later that month, he netted twice against Chelsea to knock them out of the FA Cup; he also scored against the latter opponent in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, and his goals in the penultimate two games helped Arsenal accomplish their unbeaten season in the Premier League.

Hat-tricks in friendlies during summer 2004 showed Reyes' improvement, and he was a prominent influence on his team's impressive start to 2004–05, in which he managed to score in each of the first six matches. He was named as the Premier League Player of the Month for August 2004; however, he struggled midway through the season and performed inconsistently overall.

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 in February 2005, a prankster claiming to be Emilio Butragueño, director of football of Real Madrid, speaking on behalf of the president, reportedly called the player's agent and spoke to him about a possible transfer deal. In the ensuing conversation, the latter allegedly declared that life in London was far from what he had envisioned and he would welcome a move back to his country; he also supposedly said that he wanted out of the club as there were "bad people" at Arsenal.

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 his team still went on to win the game in a penalty shootout. He temporarily ended speculation about a move away from Highbury in July, when he signed a new six-year contract and declared that he was "looking forward to having many more successful years at the club."

Reyes featured heavily in the Gunners' 2005–06 Champions League run, against, among others, Real Madrid, Juventus and Villarreal, coming on as a substitute in the final against Barcelona, which Arsenal lost 2–1. However, in August 2006, he expressed a desire not to play in the club's Champions League qualifying match against Dinamo Zagreb – to do so would render him 'cup-tied' and complicate a move to Real Madrid; manager Arsène Wenger left him out of the side, thus fuelling speculation that a transfer was soon to be agreed.

Loan to Real Madrid

Reyes was linked to Real Madrid along with Arsenal teammate Cesc Fàbregas in the summer of 2006, when presidential candidate Arturo Baldasano claimed he would sign both if elected. 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 that club had used the media and agents in Spain as a destabilising tactic; shortly before the closure of the transfer window, the teams agreed to exchange him for Brazilian international Júlio Baptista, each on a season-long loan deal.

Reyes scored his first goal for Real 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 Mallorca and claim yet another league title.

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

Atlético Madrid

Reports surfacing on 29 July 2007 indicated that cross-town rivals Atlético Madrid were on the verge of landing Reyes. Later that day, Wenger confirmed that the player's departure was imminent, and that a more specific announcement would be made shortly. The following day, he passed his medical and penned a four-year deal reportedly worth €12 million, scoring and assisting once on his debut for a 3–1 defeat of Lazio in the annual Amsterdam Tournament (while at Arsenal, he was named the tournament's MVP in its 2004 edition); his first campaign with the Colchoneros was disastrous, as he was often kept out of the side by Maxi Rodríguez and Simão Sabrosa and failed to score a single goal in 26 league appearances.

On 7 August 2008, Benfica announced the signing of Reyes on a one-year loan – 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. His first goal for the Lisbon club was scored against city rivals Sporting CP, on 27 September: after an understanding between Reyes and Pablo Aimar and a pass from the same, he scored in fashion. Later in the same week he found the net again, against Napoli, helping to a 2–0 home victory in the first round of the UEFA Cup.

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 win– by then, he had beaten the competition of Maxi and started in the wings alongside Simão. On 14 February 2010 he put in a Player of the match performance in Atlético's 2–1 victory against Barcelona, 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 with Galatasaray, 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 3–2 loss.

On 27 August 2010, Reyes opened the 2–0 win over Inter Milan in the UEFA Super Cup after a one-two combination with Argentine Sergio Agüero. His first league goal of the campaign came in a 4–1 defeat at Hércules on 10 January 2011, which inspired an impressive run of scoring form, with goals in successive home games in February/March, against Valencia, former club Sevilla and Villarreal.

Reyes took up more responsibility for 2011–12, and established himself as one of the team's most important players. On 28 July 2011, he scored twice for Atlético in a 2–1 Europa League win against Strømsgodset. A week later, in the second leg, he was again on the scoresheet and also got an assist for Adrián López in a 2–0 away victory; he struggled to find the consistency he had under Flores and, following a fallout with new coach Gregorio Manzano after being substituted in a 3–0 defeat at Athletic Bilbao, his playing time became more and more limited.