Reyes of hope for Gunners flop

Posted Monday, January 02, 2012 by The Sun

Reyes of hope for Gunners flop
MAKING A POINT ... ex-Arsenal ace Reyes is going back to Seville

JOSE ANTONIO REYES could today complete his return to boyhood club Seville from Atletico Madrid.

The former Arsenal winger just has to agree a pay-off from Atletico.

Reyes, still just 28, who became Arsenal's record £16million signing in 2004 when he left Seville, faces a battle to revive his career.

After a troubled spell in London, he joined Real Madrid on loan and his brace on the last day of the 2007 season against Mallorca allowed David Beckham to celebrate his only title in La Liga.

Real did not cough up to make the deal permanent and Reyes ended up joining cross-town rivals Atletico in a cut-price £10m move.

He won the 2010 Europa League and the European Super-Cup.

Reyes' time at Atletico has come to an end after a fallout with boss Gregorio Manzano who was sacked two weeks ago and replaced by Diego Simeone.

Staying in Spain, the head of La Liga has refused to rule out introducing Christmas fixtures.

A couple of months ago I told you about La Liga's bid to wreck the Premier League's global TV dominance with noon kick-offs.Here in England, Three Lions bosses like Sven Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello have repeatedly said England's stars go into major tournaments shattered because of the Christmas fixtures.

But the Spanish are examining the pros and cons of playing over the festive season — another way to cut into the Prem's audiences.

On Saturday, Liga de Futebol Profesional chief Jose Luis Astiazaran said: "It is in our thoughts to play in the Christmas period but it is difficult to apply.

"The financial return is not defined and we have to fulfil our obligations with the players. It's on the back-burner."

The festive fixtures are one of the Premier League's biggest weapons abroad.

While La Liga and Serie A stop for three weeks and Bundesliga goes into a month-long break — we carry on regardless.

That provides hundreds of millions of footy-mad fans around the globe with their fix when nothing else is going on.

It has helped build English football's popularity abroad — which is why the Spaniards are now considering their options.