Manuel "Manolo" Reina Rodríguez (; born 1 April 1985) is a Spanish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Club career

Born in Villanueva del Trabuco,

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

, Reina was a product of hometown

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

's youth system. He appeared in one game with the first team in the 2005–06 season, against

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

in a 0–0 home draw, as they went on to rank last in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

. In 2007, Reina joined

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 6 September 1909, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025– ...

, but played mainly for the reserves during his early spell. However, the club's severe financial crisis led to him becoming first choice after the departure of

Marco Storari Marco Storari (born 7 January 1977) is an Italian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. After a lengthy spell in Italy's lower leagues, he arrived in Serie A aged 27. Steady performances for Messina prompted his signing by A.C. Milan i ...

; in eight matches, he conceded 18 goals. Reina totalled 48 appearances the next two seasons, the last of them ending in top-flight promotion. For

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

he was initially deemed second choice, to newly signed

Gustavo Munúa Gustavo Adolfo Munúa Vera (born 27 January 1978) is a Uruguayan former Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper, recently Manager (association football), manager of Argentine club Club Atlé ...

. However, after the Uruguayan conceded ten goals in the first three matches, he was selected for the next two rounds, keeping

clean sheets In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

against

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001 ...

(1–0 away win) and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

(0–0, at home); he eventually lost his starting position again, finishing the campaign with 18 games as the

Valencians Valencians ( ; ) are the native people of the Valencian Community, in eastern Spain. Since 2006, the Valencian people are officially recognised in the Valencian Statute of Autonomy as a ''nationality'' "within the unity of the Spanish nation". ...

eventually retained their status. On 20 June 2011, Reina signed for

FC Cartagena Fútbol Club Cartagena, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Cartagena, in the Region of Murcia, Spain. Founded in 1995 it currently plays in Segunda División, holding home games at '' Estadio Cartagonova'', with a capacity of 15,105 sp ...

of the second division. After their relegation he moved abroad for the first time in his career, joining

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

AEP Paphos FC AEP Paphos (, ''Athlitiki Enosi Pafos''; "Athletic Union Paphos") was a Cypriot football club based in Paphos. The club was formed in 2000 after the merger of the two clubs of Paphos, APOP and Evagoras. AEP Paphos was dissolved on 9 June 2014, ...

. Reina switched teams and countries again on 30 January 2013, signing with

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

club

Atromitos F.C. Atromitos Football Club (, ''PAE APS Atromitos Athinon''), also simply known as Atromitos ), is a Greek professional football club based in Peristeri, a suburban city in the Athens agglomeration, that competes in the Super League. Founded in ...

as a replacement for

PAOK FC PAOK FC (, ), short for "Pan-Thessalonian Sports club, Athletic Club of Constantinople, Constantinopolitans" (), and commonly known as PAOK Thessaloniki, PAOK Salonika or simply PAOK, is a Greek professional Association football, football cl ...

-bound

Charles Itandje Charles Hubert Itandje (born 2 November 1982) is a retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in France, Itandje represented the Cameroon national team. Club career Lens Born in Bobigny (a suburb of Paris) of Cameroonia ...

. He was mostly a backup to

Velimir Radman Velimir Radman (born 28 May 1983 in Banja Luka) is a Croatian football goalkeeper, who last played for NK Lošinj, a club based in Lošinj which competes in 4th Croatian league. Club career He played for NK Rijeka from 2002 to 2010, with a one ...

, and left in June after making no competitive appearances. On 2 July 2013, Reina returned to his country and penned a contract with

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

side

Gimnàstic de Tarragona Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona, commonly known as Gimnàstic Tarragona or sometimes just Nàstic, is a Spanish sports club based in Tarragona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Its football team plays in . The club was founded in 1886 an ...

. He was an undisputed starter during his four-year spell, achieving promotion to the second division in his second season. Reina cut ties with the club on 6 July 2017, and signed for

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

13 days later. He won two consecutive promotions to return to the top tier – always as first choice – adding another one at the end of the 2020–21 campaign. Reina returned to the

La Rosaleda Stadium Estadio La Rosaleda (; literally The Rose Garden) is a football stadium in the city of Málaga, in Andalusia, southern Spain. It is the home stadium of Málaga CF in Segunda División and was previously that of Club Deportivo Málaga, of which M ...

in June 2022 after 15 years away, on a two-year deal.

Career statistics

Honours

Gimnàstic *

: 2014–15 Mallorca *Segunda División B: 2017–18

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reina, Manolo 1985 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Málaga Men's association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Atlético Malagueño players Málaga CF players Atlético Levante UD players Levante UD footballers FC Cartagena footballers Gimnàstic de Tarragona footballers RCD Mallorca players Cypriot First Division players AEP Paphos FC players Atromitos F.C. players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece