José Antonio Reyes

Sevilla

Born in Utrera, Province of Seville to Romani parents, Reyes joined the youth ranks of local Sevilla at the age of ten, and went on to represent the club at all youth levels. Reyes finally signed a full contract in 1999, making his first-team debut during the 1999–2000 season at the age of 16, against Real Zaragoza. He was later called up to Spain's squad for the UEFA European Under-17 Championship, where he scored one goal in the group stage. With the Andalusians now in Segunda División, Reyes added another appearance. After they were promoted, he established his reputation as a versatile attacking unit in the following years, his 21 La Liga goals over four seasons leading to other teams taking notice.

Arsenal

Despite Sevilla manager Joaquín Caparrós's wishes to retain him, Reyes signed with English side Arsenal during the January transfer window of the 2003–04 campaign. A £10.5 million transfer fee was negotiated with bonuses, depending on the success of Arsenal, which eventually rose to £17 million. He made his debut on 1 February 2004 in a 2–1 win over Manchester City, and two days later he scored an own goal against Middlesbrough in the Football League Cup. Later that month, he netted twice against Chelsea to knock them out of the FA Cup; he also scored against the latter opponent in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, and his goals in the penultimate two games helped Arsenal accomplish their unbeaten season in the Premier…

Reyes won his first full cap for Spain on 6 September 2003, coming on as a half-time substitute during a 3–0 friendly win against Portugal in Guimarães. On 11 October, again coming from the bench, this time for Vicente, he scored twice in the final three minutes of a 4–0 victory in Armenia for the UEFA Euro 2004 qualifiers, but was left out of Iñaki Sáez's final squad. Two years later, Reyes was picked for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but only took part in one match – the 1–0 group stage win over Saudi Arabia, with Spain already qualified in first place. He was again overlooked for the victorious Euro 2008 tournament, as manager Luis Aragonés preferred the likes of David Silva and Santi Cazorla on the wings. Reyes also appeared once for the Andalusia regional team.

Club

International

Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Reyes goal.

Reyes married Noelia López in June 2017. Together, they had two daughters, Noelia and Triana. Reyes also had a son, José Antonio Jr., from a previous relationship. His son signed for Real Madrid in June 2019, aged 11. On 1 June 2019, Reyes died at the age of 35 following a car accident while travelling between Utrera and Seville with his cousins, Jonathan Reyes, who also died, and Juan Manuel Calderón, who was taken to a hospital in serious condition. According to the police, the car had been traveling between 111 km/h (69 mph) and 128 km/h (81 mph) and potentially suffered a steering or tyre failure. This report disputed the earlier claims that the car was speeding at 220 km/h (135 mph). Many footballers and his former clubs offered their condolences to Reyes' family, and a moment of silence was observed at the 2019 UEFA Champions League final, played in Madrid later that day. His funeral took place on 3 June in his hometown of Utrera, and his last team Extremadura retired his shirt number 19 shortly after; in February 2020 this number was erroneously given to Chinese new signing Gao Leilei, with the error being later rectified.