Liverpool Star Pepe Reina Opens Talks With Napoli To End His Anfield Stay

Napoli sporting director Riccardo Bigon has reportedly opened talks with Pepe Reina's agent Manuel Garcia Quilon to finalise a deal that would see the goalkeeper make his move to the Italian side permanent.

Liverpool sent Reina on loan to Rafa Benitez's side last summer following Simon Mignolet's arrival, but the Spaniard will return to Anfield at the end of the season as he still has a contract with the Premier League giants until 2016.

However, with Mignolet firmly in favour with Brendan Rodgers, Reina's future at Liverpool looks over and according to Spanish website Todo Mercado Napoli will look to take advantage of the situation and bring him in on a long term basis.

The report claims that Napoli's sporting director and Reina's agent met recently to dicuss the shot stopper's future plans as his loan deal enters it's final months. The Spaniard is likely to extend his spell at the Italian side but Napoli may be unable to meet his salary demands with Liverpool still paying a fraction of his €4.2m per year wage as part of his loan agreement.

Barcelona have also been heavily linked with the 'keeper and reports last December suggested Liverpool would be keen on cashing in on him should any club come in with an offer of £4.5m.

After two seasons where his performances at Anfield came under real scrutiny, Reina is back to his peak form at Napoli, enjoying life under his former manager Benitez who was a key factor in him moving to Italy in the summer.

Brendan Rodgers hinted recently that Reina's time on Merseyside is over but the Spaniard refused to confirm his time at Anfield had come to an end.

"He's already written his letter, hasn't he? He wrote a goodbye letter, didn't he? I was surprised at the letter - when you are a loan player I would expect that he should come back, but obviously Pepe made it very clear when he went to Napoli that he was looking to move," Rodgers said.

But asked about Rodger's quotes, claiming that he will not return to Anfield, Reina responded: "That is what the manager says apparently but I have two years left on my contract."