José Antonio Reyes

José Antonio Reyes Calderón (1 September 1983 – 1 June 2019) was a Spanish professional footballer who played mainly as a left winger and also as a forward.

Reyes finally signed a full contract in 1999, making his first-team debut during the 1999–2000 season at the age of 16, against Real Zaragoza.

He was later called up to Spain's squad for the UEFA European Under-17 Championship, where he scored one goal in the group stage.

With the Andalusians now in Segunda División, Reyes added another appearance.

After they were promoted, he established his reputation as a versatile attacking unit in the following years, his 21 La Liga goals over four seasons leading to other teams taking notice.

Despite Sevilla manager Joaquín Caparrós's wishes to retain him, Reyes signed with English side Arsenal during the January transfer window of the 2003–04 campaign.

A £10.5 million transfer fee was negotiated with bonuses, depending on the success of Arsenal, which eventually rose to £17 million.

He made his debut for Sevilla aged 16 and signed for English club Arsenal in January 2004, winning the Premier League and FA Cup in his spell in London.

He made his debut on 1 February 2004 in a 2–1 win over Manchester City, and two days later he scored an own goal against Middlesbrough in the Football League Cup.

Later that month, he netted twice against Chelsea to knock them out of the FA Cup; he also scored against the latter opponent in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, and his goals in the penultimate two games helped Arsenal accomplish their unbeaten season in the Premier League.

Hat-tricks in friendlies during summer 2004 showed Reyes' improvement, and he was a prominent influence on his team's impressive start to 2004–05, in which he managed to score in each of the first six matches.

He was named as the Premier League Player of the Month for August 2004; however, he struggled midway through the season and performed inconsistently overall.

The following day, he passed his medical and penned a four-year deal reportedly worth €12 million, scoring and assisting once on his debut for a 3–1 defeat of S.S. Lazio in the annual Amsterdam Tournament (while at Arsenal, he was named the tournament's MVP in its 2004 edition); his first campaign with the Colchoneros was disastrous, as he was often kept out of the side by Maxi Rodríguez and Simão Sabrosa and failed to score a single goal in 26 league appearances.

In early 2005, Reyes was reported to be homesick while at Arsenal, even though his parents, Mari and Francisco, as well as brother Jesús lived with him in England.

During a prank call perpetrated by Cadena COPE in February 2005, a prankster claiming to be Emilio Butragueño, director of football of Real Madrid, speaking on behalf of the president, reportedly called the player's agent and spoke to him about a possible transfer deal.

In the ensuing conversation, the latter allegedly declared that life in London was far from what he had envisioned and he would welcome a move back to his country; he also supposedly said that he wanted out of the club as there were "bad people" at Arsenal.

On 21 May 2005, Reyes became only the second player in history (after Kevin Moran) to be sent off in an FA Cup final, when he was dismissed for a second yellow card shortly before the end of extra time against Manchester United, though his team still went on to win the game in a penalty shootout.

He temporarily ended speculation about a move away from Highbury in July, when he signed a new six-year contract and declared that he was "looking forward to having many more successful years at the club."

Reyes featured heavily in the Gunners' 2005–06 Champions League run, against, among others, Real Madrid, Juventus F.C. and Villarreal CF, coming on as a substitute in the final against FC Barcelona, which Arsenal lost 2–1.

He returned to Spain in September 2006, on loan with Real Madrid, where he won La Liga.

He then moved to Atlético Madrid, and won the Europa League twice.

He also had a short loan spell in Portugal with Benfica, before re-joining Sevilla late in his career and winning the Europa League another three times, reaching a record individual total of five.

He later had spells with Espanyol, Córdoba, Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard and Extremadura.

Reyes earned 21 caps for Spain, and played at the 2006 World Cup.

However, in August 2006, he expressed a desire not to play in the club's Champions League qualifying match against NK Dinamo Zagreb – to do so would render him 'cup-tied' and complicate a move to Real Madrid; manager Arsène Wenger left him out of the side, thus fuelling speculation that a transfer was soon to be agreed.

Reyes was linked to Real Madrid along with Arsenal teammate Cesc Fàbregas in the summer of 2006, when presidential candidate Arturo Baldasano claimed he would sign both if elected.

After making two official statements on Arsenal's website denying media reports of being unhappy, alleged quotes from Reyes in the Spanish press contradicted his denials.

This tested the patience of Wenger, who reacted angrily to Real Madrid's attempts to unsettle his player, suggesting that it was not the first time that club had used the media and agents in Spain as a destabilising tactic; shortly before the closure of the transfer window, the teams agreed to exchange him for Brazilian international Júlio Baptista, each on a season-long loan deal.

Reyes scored his first goal for Real on 17 September 2006, with a free kick against Real Sociedad, in a 2–0 home win.

On the final day of the season, the focus was on soon-to-be-departed David Beckham and Roberto Carlos, but Reyes, brought from the bench for injured Beckham, netted twice as Real came from behind to beat RCD Mallorca and claim yet another league title.

Real Madrid appointed former Getafe CF coach Bernd Schuster on 8 July 2007, increasing the chances that Reyes would sign a permanent deal and stay in Spain.

Reports surfacing on 29 July 2007 indicated that cross-town rivals Atlético Madrid were on the verge of landing Reyes.

Later that day, Wenger confirmed that the player's departure was imminent, and that a more specific announcement would be made shortly.

On 7 August 2008, S.L. Benfica announced the signing of Reyes on a one-year loan – the Portuguese also bought 25% of his playing rights for a fee of €2.65 million, and ensured a buying option of the remainder 75% for an undisclosed fee.

His first goal for the Lisbon club was scored against city rivals Sporting CP, on 27 September: after an understanding between Reyes and Pablo Aimar and a pass from the same, he scored in fashion.

Later in the same week he found the net again, against S.S.C. Napoli, helping to a 2–0 home victory in the first round of the UEFA Cup.

Reyes' return to Atlético proved to be much more successful, as he re-united with Quique Sánchez Flores, his manager at Benfica from the previous season.

He scored his first official goal in Spain in more than two years on 9 January 2010, with a long-range effort at Real Valladolid, in a 4–0 win – by then, he had beaten the competition of Maxi and started in the wings alongside Simão.

He died in June 2019 at the age of 35 in a car crash.

Born in Utrera, Province of Seville to Romani parents, Reyes joined the youth ranks of local Sevilla FC at the age of 10 and went on to represent the club at all youth levels.