Source: Telegraph
Pepe Reina has no intentions of leaving Liverpool's sinking ship
They shall not pass. Perhaps, in a month or so, a postscript might be added. "No saldra". He will not leave.[LNB]By Easter, Reina will do what the Royal Bank of Scotland, the club's owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett and a number of his team-mates have singularly failed to do and commit his long-term future to Liverpool. [LNB] Related ArticlesChampions League and Europa League draws in fullBrown: Pompey must fight until endStorrie: the real storyZola inspired by Fulham ahead of Arsenal testFerguson blasts 'dysfunctional' FASport on televisionHe will sign a contract keeping him at Anfield for the next six years of his career, the prime of his playing life, the height of his earning power. [LNB]His decision, at a time when the future holds nothing but fear for Liverpool, is testament to his loyalty. Scuttled by their owners, seemingly destined to be deserted by their crew after the outburst of 'mutineer' Albert Riera, the club are adrift in a sea of uncertainty. [LNB]Champions League pre-eminence may be exchanged for Europa League ignominy, or worse. Sink or swim, though, Reina has no intention of abandoning ship. [LNB]"Why? It is professional, it is personal, it is the education of my child, a bit of everything," he says. "This is one of the best clubs in the world and I see no reason to leave."[LNB]The worry for those who will travel to Old Trafford on Sunday to face Manchester United, of course, is that the Liverpool of the next year and the next decade will be a shadow of what the club once was, a team left behind by the Premier League's aristocrats and arrivistes, a side used to feasting at Europe's top table condemned to feed on scraps. [LNB]Widely recognised as one of the five best goalkeepers in the world, his former club Barcelona, among many others, have long cast coquettish glances in his direction. [LNB]Yet Reina reacts fiercely to the suggestion that, by committing himself to Anfield, he is sacrificing his own ambitions. [LNB]"Do you think it is a sacrifice? Of course it is not," he says. "I am really proud and really lucky to be here. [LNB]"I felt wanted from the beginning and these kind of things are personal. My mind is clear, my decision is taken and I have no regrets at all. [LNB]"It is nice to hear that other teams want me. But I am not thinking about leaving Liverpool at all. This is the right club for me. [LNB]"I am really proud and really lucky because it is always important to be loved by someone and especially when they raise a flag in your name. You realise how good and how big this club is and how special the supporters are. [LNB]"We always want the best for the supporters and to deliver trophies for them. But even when we are not, they are always behind the team and that is priceless. [LNB]"All of us want to win trophies but sometimes that is not the case, and you cannot throw in the towel. It has been a long wait for the fans, 20 years without a league title, and I would just love to be here when and if it happens." [LNB]
