Reyes courting Real Madrid move

Arsenal forward Jose Antonio Reyes has confirmed he would be interested in a return to Spanish club football.

The reported target of Real Madrid joined Arsenal as a 17-year old from Sevilla in January 2004 but claims he has yet to settle in London. According to Spanish media reports, Madrid are keen on both Reyes and his Arsenal team-mate Cesc Fabregas.

Reyes, 22, said: 'I have always said that I want to return to Spain. I have nothing against Arsenal, completely the opposite.'It is a great club and they have helped me so much. The fans have given me so much support since I joined.'

'But they know that I have not adapted to life in England. I have not got used to the language or the weather. If Real Madrid want me then that is marvellous. I have always said what a huge club it is and it would be an honour to play for them. Let's see what happens.'

Actually, this is not the first time that Reyes has revealed his home-sickness. If readers still remember, Reyes was caught out by a prank call last year from a Spanish radio station when he allegedly declared he was disappointed with life in London and had not ruled out a return to Spain.

After two years with Arsenal, if a player is still complaining about the weather and language (also the hard tackles in the English game which he did not mention) then Soccer Pundit believes that it is best that the player moves on to the next station of his career. It will also be in the interest of the club to let him go, lest relationship soured to the point where dirty linens get aired in the public again. Point is, you can't always get players who can fit in, like Dennis Bergkamp who has an absolutely satisfying and fantastic time at Arsenal.

On Reyes performance so far in England, Soccer Pundit would say that he has not really lived up to the hype. There is no doubt that he is a promising player who has the speed, balance and dribbling skills to take on the best defenders. He also possesses a strong and accurate shot. Only thing is he was not able to turn in solid performances on a consistent basis.

There were several matches in which he looked ready to be the man-of-the-match in the opening exchanges but after a few lunging tackles by the defenders and the referee did not give him the proper 'protection', he kindda faded out of the game and was contented to be just distributing the ball around. Or he either retaliated and get himself a yellow card or he did not see through the match due to an injury from the crunching tackles.

His inability to progress into a mainstream player at Arsenal will affect his chances to feature in the Spanish national team. The fact that other Spanish players plying their trade in England like Luis Garcia, Xabi Alonso and even Cesc Fabregas have broken into the first team may also have gnawed away at the his decision to stay and fight for a few more seasons in this ill-adjusted environment.

However, Arsenal will not be letting him go to Real Madrid without an attractive offer. It could come in the form of a cash plus player exchange as Arsenal's squad is depleted with the release of Sol Campbell and Robert Pires, and Dennis Bergkamp retiring. Ashley Cole is also sure to leave since his relationship with the club has become untenable of late.

They can call on Tomas Rosicky (their new addition) to cover the left wing position but Rosicky has yet to establish himself, so it is not likely that Wenger will entrust him with such a responsiblity and to let Reyes go to one of their closest competitor in Europe. Nevertheless, if Guti or Julio Baptista were offered in the transfer deal, Wenger may just be tempted to consider.

David Beckham is also a likely candidate as previous rumors have associated him with Arsenal even as Wenger vehemently denied any interest. If anything, Beckham can sell T-shirts and single-handedly fill up the capacity of their spanking new stadium and raise their TV revenue. Of course, all these are rumors for the time being but it will be interesting to see how the situation develops over the next days and if Real Madrid even respond at all.

Soccer Pundit believes that with Wenger's reputation as a financially astute man in the transfer market, and seeing Arsenal's determination to hold out for Ashley Cole in the tug-of-war with Chelsea, Real Madrid will find Wenger a much harder man to deal with than Alex Ferguson in the Ruud van Nistelrooy's deal...