Spanish goalkeeper Pepe Reina will play his final season as a senior footballer in 2022-23, he has confirmed. Lazio qualified for the Europa League by finishing 5th, one point above Jose Mourinho’s Roma, thus automatically activating a clause in his deal and prolonging his contract for another year.
Speaking to Diario de Mallorca (via La Lazio Siamo Noi), the 2010 World Cup winner announced his extended stay in the Italian capital after an average season with the Biancocelesti.
“I think I’ll play for another year, which is what I have left from my contract. I think it will be the last. The 24th as a professional and I will close. Of course, in football you never know, but basically that’s the idea. The times are right.”
Lazio ended 2021-22 with an exciting 3-3 draw against Hellas Verona – a match that reflected their unpredictable campaign that saw them just usurp Roma and Fiorentina and into the top five. Reina commented how their fared.
“It went went well, we reached the goal that we set ourselves at the beginning of the season. Serie A is very competitive, and we have been fighting with many teams. It was positive that we entered the Europa League with one matchday to go.”
Reina has appeared 54 times for Lazio since joining from Aston Villa, where he was on loan from Milan in 2019-20. The Liverpool icon largely played second fiddle to Thomas Strakosha in the most recent season, ceding the starting job he had previously managed to snatch.