Liverpool Star Reina Admits Urge to Return to La Liga

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina has admitted that as he gets older the lure of returning to Spain is getting stronger – even though he is yet to decide his future.

The 31-year-old has excelled last season on loan at Napoli but recently Brendan Rodgers suggested his future at Anfield was over.

"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.

Atletico Madrid and Barcelona have both been linked with his services lately and even though Reina still has two years on his contract at Merseyside, he is not hiding his desire to return to his homeland.

"It is an option that we may consider. I have been very well during these nine years playing abroad because usually foreigners feel more valued out from their countries but going back to Spain is a possibility and every time I'm getting older I feel more likely to comeback," he said in an interview with Spanish radio station Onda Cero.

"Being linked with Barcleona and Atletico is always pleasant. But today the truth is that I have to come back to Liverpool and we have not discussed anything different yet.

"But if I have to go back to Liverpool I will gladly do it and I will try to fight for a place. It is a city, a people and a club that has given me so much".

Napoli's president has also expressed several times this season that he is likely to extend Reina's spell in Serie A.

However, manager Rafa Benitez has ruled out that chance, claiming Napoli cannot afford his salary.

"Pepe has two years left on his contract at Liverpool. He has to go back and he'll stay there. We can't afford Pepe's wages. The Premier League is a very big league and, in Serie A, we don't pay big wages like in England. He will have to fight for his position at Liverpool," Bentiez told Talk Sport.