Berlin – Bundesliga side Bayern Munich are close to signing Spanish goalkeeper Pepe Reina to back up Manuel Neuer, the German champions said late on Tuesday.
“The player should come to Munich for a medical in the next few days and sign his contract,” Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said in Portland during the club’s United States tour.
Reina is under contract with Premier League side Liverpool but spent last season on loan to Napoli in Serie A. The Spanish newspaper Marca reports Bayern have agreed to pay a 3 million euro fee (about R43 million) for the 31-year-old, who would sign a three-year deal in Munich.
With Germany keeper Neuer firmly established as Bayern’s number one, the 33-times capped Reina will compete with veteran Tom Starke as his deputy.
Reina had previously played with Barcelona and Villarreal. – Sapa-dpa