Reyes won the Premier League title in his first season with Arsenal. The Arsenal team of the 2003/04 season is known as 'the Invincibles' because the Gunners didn't lose any league game that season.
Let's look back at the career of Jose Antonio Reyes, one of the Invincibles, who sadly passed away prematurely at the age of 35.
An Andalusian talent
Reyes was born on September 1st, 1983, in Utrera, a small town not far from Seville in Andalusia in the south of Spain. At the age of ten, he joined the youth teams of Sevilla FC. In 1999, when he was 16 years old, he signed his first professional contract with the club, and incredibly, made his debut in the first team during the La Liga 1999/2000 season.
However, Sevilla were relegated to the Segunda Division that season but the following year they were back in the top flight. From the 2001/02 season, Reyes began to play regularly. He scored his first goal for Sevilla in a match against Espanyol in September 2001, just after his 18th birthday.
Reyes played preferably on the left wing but he was a versatile attacking unit. In the following years with Sevilla, his 24 goals in 96 matches led to other teams taking notice.
Trophies and homesickness at Arsenal
Reyes' transfer to Arsenal cost £17 million (including bonuses). The young Spaniard made his Arsenal debut in February 2004, replacing Dennis Bergkamp during a 2-1 home win over Manchester City.
As already mentioned, he ended that first season as a title-winner and as one of the Invincibles and started the following campaign strongly, scoring in his first five Premier League matches to earn the Player of the Month award for August 2004.
In 2005, Reyes also won the FA Cup with Arsenal. In total, he scored 23 goals in 110 appearances for the Gunners. His last match for the club was the 2006 UEFA Champions League final, in which Arsenal lost to Barcelona.
Despite his successes, Reyes was reportedly unhappy in England for a long time, even though his parents and his brother lived with him there.
Securing a title for Real Madrid
In the summer of 2006, Reyes gladly returned to Spain - he was loaned to Real Madrid. This happened as part of an exchange for Brazilian Julio Baptista, who went from Real to Arsenal, each on a season-long loan deal.
This season ended fantastically for Reyes (and thanks to him for the whole of Real Madrid). On the final day of the season, Reyes netted twice as Real came from behind to beat Mallorca, thus securing the title.
Europa League record holder
In the summer of 2007, Reyes made a permanent move from Arsenal to Madrid. However, it wasn't to Real Madrid, but to rivals, Atletico Madrid. He won the Europa League twice with Atletico (2010, 2012).
He also had a short loan spell in Portugal with Benfica, before re-joining his beloved Sevilla later in his career and winning the Europa League a further three times (2014, 2015, 2016), which makes him the record holder for the most Europa League titles - Reyes has won it five times.
He later also had spells with Espanyol, Cordoba (in Segunda Division), in China with Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard and with Extremadura (also in Segunda Division).
The fatal accident
On June 1st, 2019, Reyes died at the age of 35 following a car accident while travelling between his hometown Utrera and Seville with his cousins. One of them also died, and the other was taken to a hospital in serious condition.
Investigations proved that Reyes was driving at 187 km/h when the maximum speed allowed was 120. However, the main cause was a tyre blowout which, together with the high speed, caused him to lose the control of his car.
Jose Antonio Reyes Jr.
Reyes is remembered by most of the clubs he played for. He achieved great success at many of them. Despite dying so tragically and so young, his name may well reappear on the world football scene soon.
His son, also named Jose Antonio Reyes, has played in the youth teams of Real Madrid since 2019.
Jose Antonio Reyes Lopez (also known as 'Jose Antonio Reyes Jr'.) was born in 2007 and now he is 17 years old. He plays also as an attacker and he has even been incorporated into the training sessions of the first team at Real Madrid. It seems the name 'Reyes' will live on long in Spain and in football more broadly.