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Birthdate:
15.04.1982
Birthplace: Mallorca, Spain
Other clubs: Real Mallorca, Bordeaux, Espanyol, Manchester City (loan), Olympiacos
Bought from: Espanyol
Signed for LFC: £8000000 31.08.2008
International debut: 13.10.2007 vs. Denmark
International caps: 16/4 (11/3 at LFC) - 14.10.2009
Liverpool debut:
13.09.2008
Last appearance: 11.03.2010
Debut goal: 18.10.2008
Last goal: 22.03.2009
Contract expiry: 23.07.2010
LFC league games/goals: 40 / 3
Total LFC games/goals: 56 / 5
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Player Notes:
The left-sided midfielder started his career at Real Mallorca in 2001. He became a regular in the side during the 2002/03 season and won the Copa del Rey for the first time in Mallorca's history. He left for Bordeaux in 2003 and returned to Spain with Espanyol two years later. He was soon loaned to Manchester City where he didn't make good enough impression to win himself a permanent deal. He finally settled at Espanyol becoming one of their key players, scoring one of their goals in the UEFA Cup final in 2007 which Espanyol lost to Sevilla on penalties.
Riera had a decent debut season with Liverpool, starting an impressive 33 games out of his total of 40, so Rafa clearly had great faith in him. He has shown that he can strike the ball accurately and score impressive goals and work harad for the team, but he is sometimes too slow to get behind his man. Riera made his international debut for Spain vs Denmark on 13th October 2007, but didn't make the Spanish squad that conquered in Euro 2008. Since he joined Liverpool he has become more of a regular in the Spanish side.
Riera's second season at Anfield was always likely to be his last after he openly criticised Rafael Benitez and was placed on the transfer-list as a result. Comments about his manager like "He's never sorted out a situation with a player by talking with him" were never likely to impress club officials, his team-mates or the club's huge fanbase. Riera had only started 12 matches in 2009-2010 at the time of this outburst and he was suspended on the 18th of March because of his comments. Since then two Moscow clubs reportedly showed an interest in buying him but it was wrongly reported that Liverpool had actually accepted an offer from CSKA Moscow. However, with Riera being married to a Russian girl, that country could still be his next home. At the end of the season Albert Riera was still officially a Liverpool player with two years left on his contract.
New manager Roy Hodgson made a pledge when he arrived that he would give every player a chance to prove that they had a future with the club. A knee injury prevented Riera from joining pre-season training with the rest of the first-team squad. However, he was expected to be fit for training from Monday 5th July 2010, at which point his fitness and attitude could be evaluated by the new boss. What dialogue took place between Hodgson and Riera we will probably never know. The Spaniard was an unused substitute in Liverpool's first pre-season match in Austria on the 21st of July 2010. But just two days later he joined Greek club Olympiacos on a four-year deal. |
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