Pepe Reina has a £4.1 million release clause in his Liverpool contract that if triggered would allow him to leave the club this summer.
The 31-year-old Spanish goalkeeper has been on loan at Napoli this season with former Reds’ boss Rafa Benitez “who confirmed at the weekend that Reina has a release clause in his contract with the Merseyside club,” according to Andy Hunter of the Guardian.
However, Reina’s future looks undecided with Napoli looking unlikely to offer Reina a permanent deal.
Napoli are currently third, 17 points adrift of Serie A leaders Juventus, but still very much in contention for a second place finish.
Reina says he knows his fate is in Brendan Rodgers’ hands after the Reds boss recently dropped the biggest hint yet that it is unlikely Reina has a future at Anfield.
Rodgers was quoted by the Liverpool Echo last month as saying, “Pepe made it very clear when he went to Napoli that he was looking to move because he penned a great big letter saying he was going to work with the best manager that he’d worked with.
“So for me it probably sounded like he’d made his decision there.”
Responding to the suggestions that he will definitely leave Liverpool this summer, Reina told BBC Sport, “That is what the manager says apparently but I have two years left on my contract. Liverpool got another goalkeeper and they told me they were happy to loan me for a season.
“It was strange but I don’t regret it. The only thing about the letter is that I just could say goodbye in a different way and I couldn’t do it [in person].
“There are always ups and downs in a career and in the last two-and-a-half years at Liverpool there were different methods and perhaps I didn’t do as good as I used to with Rafa.”
Reina played for Liverpool for eight seasons before being sent on loan to Napoli when Simon Mignolet was signed from Sunderland last summer.
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