Pepe Reina to Barcelona Blocked by Victor Valdes Stay

After all of last week's commotion surrounding the goalkeeping position at Liverpool, things have died down to the point of silence, with no further links appearing to Asmir Begovic or anyone else. Some indirectly relevant news today, though, as Barcelona's Victor Valdes announced his intent to stay with the club through the end of the 2013-2014 season. Pepe Reina had been widely reported to have interest in a move back to Spain, but with Valdes intent on staying, it'd be hard to see Liverpool's number one make an exit now.

Liverpool likely will (and should) continue to look for a long-term replacement for Reina, who still has a couple seasons left on his contract but isn't necessarily a lock to see out those years. The Begovic agreement--which may or may not turn out to be a thing that actually happened--made sense, with Jack Butland arriving at Stoke and seemingly the goalkeeper of the future for the club that's now led by Mark Hughes.

It's probably naive to hope that this signals the end of the Reina exit talk, but as with before, I'd guess there's plenty of twists left to come. Valdes' intent to stay doesn't mean he actually will (though I think it does), and Reina could very well push for a move regardless of whether or not Valdes leaves. It'd be nice for the club to get at least one more season with Pepe, though, as his stronger second half could be indicative of a renaissance for a player whose performance have been in relative decline for a number of seasons.

Read More: Stoke Deny Deal Done for Begovic