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After a summer of uncertainty, Pepe Reina's imminent move to Bayern Munich seemed to come out of nowhere and has advanced with startling speed. On Monday it was announced that Liverpool and Bayern had agreed a £2M/€2.5M deal to take the out of favour 31-year-old 'keeper to Germany, and today Bayern have announced that Reina has completed his medical and that the move will be completed tomorrow.
Welcome to Munich, @PReina25! Medical successfully completed, contract to be signed tomorrow. #MiaSanMia pic.twitter.com/oL6WVRsLVm
— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) August 7, 2014
Reina had earlier been linked with a full time move to Napoli, where he spent last season on loan, with Barcelona also briefly appearing as a possible landing place. In the end, though, links to both—as well as more tenuous rumours connecting him to other Italian and Spanish clubs—faded, and a season in Liverpool's reserves or back out on loan again began to seem a real possibility.
Now, though he'll be on Bayern's bench, at least he'll be given the chance to start fresh with a manager he hasn't fallen out with. Given Pep Guardiola's habits with Barcelona, it's also likely he will at least see some domestic cup action in Germany, giving him the chance to stay sharp in case he's ever needed to cover for a Manuel Neuer injury.
Given other destinations—destinations where he would have had a shot at starting regularly—would have been available to him were he willing to take a pay cut, moving to Bayern is also likely to mean he will get to stay on wages similar to those at Liverpool. He may not be set to get a great deal of playing time in Germany, but at least he'll be well compensated for his role on the sidelines.
It may not be the perfect landing spot, then, but at least it's a permanent landing spot. And at this stage, that has to be counted as a win for all involved.
