Pepe Reina

Signed by Rafael Benitez in July 2005, goalkeeper Jose Manuel ‘Pepe’ Reina has become an Anfield record-breaker. In the 2005-06 season he kept a club record of 11 clean sheets; his shut-out against Blackburn in April 2007 was his 28th in his first 50 League games – three more than Kop legend Ray Clemence; he won the Golden Gloves Award for most clean sheets in the Premier League for three successive seasons; and on top of all this he saved three West Ham penalties in the FA Cup Final shoot-out at the end of his first season to take the trophy back to Anfield for the seventh time. He was also a regular in the Spanish squad, making his debut in a 2-0 victory over Uruguay in 2005, but his appearances were very limited due to the brilliance of rivals Iker Casillas and Santiago Canizares. He was in the squad for the World Cups of 2006 and 2010, but did not make an appearance, and played just once in Euro 2008. Having helped lead his country to European U16 Championships glory, Reina made his Nou Camp debut aged just 18, and played 33 games for the Catalan giants in 2000-01, including two against Liverpool in the UEFA Cup semi-final. He went on to help Villarreal secure a Champions League spot in 2004-05 season, saving an incredible seven out of nine penalty kicks. He made his Liverpool debut in a Champions League qualifier against TNS in July, 2005 and played in the 2007 final, which the Reds lost.