Former Arsenal star’s SON signs for Real Madrid
Jose Antonio Reyes junior, the son of the late Arsenal star, signed for Real Madrid on Tuesday.
The 16-year-old penned his first professional contract with the LaLiga giants after impressing for the club’s Juvenil B side.
‘It is a very special moment for me,’ Reyes said.
‘I have signed my first professional contract with Real Madrid and I want to thank the club for its trust and my family for its daily support.
‘I will continue working and doing my best to go very far.’
Reyes joined the Real Madrid academy in 2019 and has progressed through the ranks to the Juvenil B squad, the youth side comprising of players aged between 16 and 18.
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The teenager was one of five Juvenil B players called up by former Liverpool defender Alvaro Arbeloa into the Juvenil A, which includes players aged between 17 and 19.
Reyes was part of the Spain that finished fourth at the European U-17 Championship in May after losing to France in the semi-finals.
Reyes’ father, Jose Antonio, died in a car crash aged 35 in 2019.
The former Spain star was killed along with his 23-year-old cousin while another man suffered serious burns when the vehicle they were travelling in overturned and burst into flames in Utrera, the town where Reyes was born, just outside Seville.
Spanish media reported at the time that Reyes was on his way home to his wife and three children after training, having not been picked by Extremadura to play against Cádiz.
Spanish police said they believe Reyes was driving his Mercedes Brabus S550V at 120 miles per hour – some 50mph over the speed limit on the A-376 motorway near Alcala de Guadaira, outside Seville.
The car was completely burned out after it crashed from the motorway and ended up on its roof.
Having come through the ranks at Sevilla, Reyes established himself as one of European football’s most promising talents before joining Arsenal for £17million in January 2004.
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The Spaniard won the Premier League four months after arriving at Highbury and lifted the FA Cup the following season, when the Gunners lost the Champions League final to Barcelona.
After scoring 23 goals in 110 appearances in all competitions, Reyes left Arsenal for Real Madrid on loan in 2006, winning LaLiga before joining Atletico Madrid on a permanent basis the following season.
Reyes won two Europa Leagues in four seasons with Atleti, before returning to Sevilla in 2011 where he won the Europa League in three consecutive seasons between 2014 and 2016.