Pepe Reina recognised his happiness at returning to the Yellows 17 years later
Villarreal CF have this Monday presented Pepe Reina as a new player. The goalkeeper, accompanied by Fernando Roig, spoke to the media in his first press conference since returning to the Yellow Submarine.
Excitement at returning home
“I’m very happy. I wanted to come back and I hoped that I could do so. I am really pleased. I couldn’t have a better end to my career. I want to retire here. I want the club to continue to grow and continue to be a model club in Spain and across Europe.”
A connection to the club
“Villarreal are the team where I saw myself after last season with Lazio, where I was. They play well, I feel a lot for this club and they achieved extraordinary things in the Champions League. We want every competition that Villarreal play in to end the best way possible.”
The fight for Europe
“If we win a title, it would be great. The main of the club is to fight to qualify for Europe and why not think about the Champions League? Fighting for the Copa del Rey and the Conference League are two exciting aims that we also want to set ourselves.”
Competing for the No.1 stop and helping the team
“I want to help as much as I can, feel good, train hard and that’s the only objective I’ve set myself for this year. At the moment, Gero Rulli is the No.1. I’ve come to compete and add my hard work and experience to the team, help the young goalkeepers, who have a great projection and could be the goalkeepers of the future.”
Competing with Gero Rulli
“I’m expecting a healthy, sporting competitiveness, with a lot of hard work daily. I’m excited and hopeful that it will be a great competition in goal. I want to thank Gero for his great gesture. Because of hierarchy, the No.1 was his, but he said I could have it. It’s a great gesture, that speaks a lot about the type of person he is.”
A united dressing room
“One of the key things about this team is that the human side of the game is above the ego of each footballer. I also want to continue like that. We want to have a strong dressing room, one that is solid and humble. We want to continue like that.”
