Spanish sensation who left Zidane in awe
By Graham Hunter, Evening Standard, in Spain
28 January 2004
On what turned out to be a long and painful night in November last year for Real Madrid, Zinedine Zidane turned to his marker Juan Redondo, while Sevilla were in the process of humiliating the Spanish giants 4-1.
The world's best footballer pointed at the man who is set to become Arsenal's record signing, Jose Reyes, and asked: "Is that bastard playing like this just because it is us?"
Redondo remembers: "Zidane was moaning about whether Reyes was going past Real's defenders on a motorbike which he couldn't see - that was the absurd type of game Jose was having.
Favourite son: Jose Reyes was the darling of Sevilla fans
"The runs he was making and the way he was cutting past Pavon - none of that was 'normal'.
"At Sevilla we knew before that night that he was truly extraordinary - but it seems he surprised the rest of the world."
And that is what all the fuss is about at Arsenal.
This tough little country boy from the depths of Andalusia, whose accent most people outside a 20-mile radius of his home village have difficulty in understanding, is already established as a footballer of international significance.
If you needed to make catch-all description of Arsenal's new boy it would be talent by Michael Owen and savoir-faire by Wayne Rooney.
He is almost the finished article on the pitch and rough as a Scouser scally off it.
Reyes is Seville from the tips of his lucratively sponsored Kelme training shoes to the sparkle of the ever-present gypsy jewellery he wears.
Bling-Bling? You ain't seen nothing yet.
This is the boy who yesterday regretted not that he didn't have time to say cheerio to 'the fans' but that he hadn't had time to meet with and explain what was happening to 'the Biris'.
Typically of Reyes the 'Biris' are the hard-line 'Ultras' - Sevilla fans who you wouldn't wish to meet in a dark alley in the city centre on a Saturday night.
Yesterday, during the press conferences held by Sevilla President Jose Maria del Nido and by Reyes himself, these 'Biris' flocked to the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.
They started banging on the doors and windows for all they were worth just to register their disgust at the impending marriage of Reyes and Arsenal.
Little wonder the hard men were hurt - their idol-cum-pal not only had a recently signed contract until 2010 but Reyes and Sevilla had agreed that the specified buy-out clause in that contract would be set at 100million euros!
If Arsene Wenger's claim that the initial payment was a mere £10m had reached Spain sufficiently quickly yesterday afternoon, David Dein would still be in hiding in the UK Consulate in Seville and the Sanchez Pizjuan would have been torn down brick by brick.
Reyes would have walked out of the rubble like Popeye after a can of spinach, however.
When his medical takes place today and tomorrow in London he'll probably pass with flying colours but the doctors will find a multi-coloured symphony of cuts and bruises on the 20 year old's legs.
In his last three seasons there have been 283 fouls given for the various assaults masquerading as tackles which La Liga's defenders used to stop Reyes.
What Highbury is about to enjoy is a player who gets the ball, runs at defenders and shoots to score.
Old style, old school. Despite the fact that the fouls on him have been so severe this season that one in three tackles on Reyes have resulted in either a booking or a red card for the opponent the country boy just gets up, dusts himself off and sets out to cause more trouble.
"When I go down it is not theatre its for real" he says, which will be a welcome dose of realism in comparison to the antics of United's Cristiano Ronaldo.
"The defenders give you stick and say nothing while doing it so I pick myself up off the grass and, next time, give them one back.
"Does it hurt? Yes, sometimes it hurts like a bastard - I'm not made of industrial rubber.
"But this is football and whatever you give or get on the pitch everything-is forgotten after the match." Not that the Reyes maxim was proven true a couple of seasons ago when he was the most famous victim of on-the-pitch-fellatio in Spanish football history - at least during a game.
It was another fantastic four-goal fiesta for Sevilla, this time against Valladolid, which Reyes capped with a mazy 40-metre run and clever finish past Ricardo Felipe.
Slightly overcome, Francisco Gallardo leaned into the pile of bodies on the grass as Reyes' goal was celebrated in more traditional fashion and, er, buried his head in an unusual area.
Regarding the unusual treatment of his manhood Reyes merely confessed sheepishly: "I felt a bit of a pinch but I didn't realise what Gallardo had done until I saw the video.
"The worst thing about it is the teasing I'm getting from my teammates."
There will be goals galore for Highbury, Wenger and the rest of Reyes' new team mates now that this fantastic, tough little inside left has joined the Gunners.
But his development, his learning of English and his graduation to the North London glitterati represented by Messrs Pires, Vieira and Henry will be necessarily slow.
Davor Suker, once of Sevilla and once of Arsenal, says shrewdly: "Reyes is a rough diamond which needs to be polished and protected.
"I couldn't choose between him and Beckham in terms of talent.
"But I know that, if properly handled, Reyes can adapt to English football just like he could to any top level country because he is a little genius."
Just ask Zidane.
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Sounds just like an Arsenal man.
,just go in and find out:amika: ,has to be reyes n henry upfront for me leave the midfield as is.
i aint seen nothing special from C Ronaldo he is just a player nothing special,