José Antonio Reyes

Personal information
Full name	José Antonio Reyes Calderón
Date of birth	September 1, 1983 (1983-09-01) (age 24)
Place of birth	Utrera, Spain
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Winger, Striker
Club information
Current club	Atlético Madrid
Number	17
Youth clubs
1994–1999	Sevilla
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1999–2004 2004–2007 2006–2007 2007–	Sevilla Arsenal → Real Madrid (loan) Atlético Madrid	95 (25) 69 (16) 30 0(6) 00 0(0)
National team2
2003–	Spain	21 0(4)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 June 2007. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of October 11, 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

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

Club career

Early career

Born into a Romani 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 Under-17 European Championships.

Reyes established his reputation as a versatile forward, playing either as a left winger or a support striker. 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 English club Arsenal F.C. during the January transfer window of the 2003-04 season. 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. Two days later, he scored an own goal against Middlesbrough in the Carling Cup. Later that month, Reyes scored twice against Chelsea 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 Arsenal's unbeaten run in the FA Premier League going.

Hat tricks in friendlies during the summer 2004 showed his improvement and Reyes was a prominent influence on Arsenal's impressive start to the 2004-05 season, 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 at Old Trafford. 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 homesick 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 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 2005-06 UEFA Champions League 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 2006-07 Champions League 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 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. However, he was left out of Iñaki Sáez's 2004 European 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 García up front. Most recently, Reyes played in the 2006 FIFA World Cup game against Saudi Arabia.

Club career statistics

(correct as of 13 July 2006)

Club	Season	League			Cup		Europe		Total
		Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Sevilla FC	1999-00	1	0	?	-	-	-	-	1	0
	2000-01	1	0	?	1	0	-	-	2	0
	2001-02	29	8	?	1	0	-	-	30	8
	2002-03	34	9	?	3?	2?	-	-	37?	11?
	2003-04	21	5	?	4	1	-	-	25	6
	Total	86	22	?	9?	3?	-	-	95?	25?
Arsenal FC	2003-04	13	2	1	4	2	4	1	21	5
	2004-05	30	9	10	7	2	8	1	45	12
	2005-06	26	5	10	6	1	12	0	44	6
	Total	69	16	21	17	5	24	2	110	23
Real Madrid	2006-07	30	6	2	2	0	4	1	36	7
	Total	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Career total		155	38	23?	26?	8?	24	2	205?	48?

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

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