Napoli and Pepe Reina discuss contract while Manchester City loom

Reports broke out earlier in the week that Pepe Reina could be headed to Manchester City, and now his agent is in Italy to talk to Napoli’s management. The exact nature of those talks is unknown, but rumors indicate that he’s in town to talk about a contract.

Napoli offered Reina a contract more than a week ago and had not previously received a reply, but now Manuel Quilon is in Italy and ready to talk. The question, though, is if he’s really here to talk about a contract, or here to start pushing his client towards to the exit.

Quilon has never been afraid to butt heads with management, with knock-down, drag-out fights with Liverpool management in Reina’s later days with the club being poorly remembered by all involved. Hopefully that’s not the case here, because Napoli need Reina more than some of the mooted alternatives — sorry Orestis Karnezis, but you’re not that good — but it does have to be noted that he left Dimaro without having agreed terms on a new deal for his client.

Manchester City certainly can offer Reina enough money to tempt him away from Naples, even with how much the Spaniard supposedly wants to stay in Naples in the long-term, even after his playing days are done. They’d also be able to throw enough money Quilon’s way in the form of perfectly-legal-but-probably-shouldn’t-be agent bonuses to convince him to convince Reina to make the move. That would not be great news for Napoli.

There’s some talk that Quilon and Napoli management talked a little but about a potential transfer for another Quilon client, Villarreal winger Samu Castillejo, but that seems like a long shot considering the bigger issues on the table right now. Hopefully things come to a reasonable and speedy conclusion, and Reina doesn’t leave the club until he’s actually been properly replaced and had time to train said replacement.