Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic has paid tribute to former Sevilla star Jose Antonio Reyes: “He was a teammate who everyone wanted.”
The two player alongside each other at the Andalusian club for two-and-a-half years before the Croatian was transferred to the Camp Nou in the summer of 2014.
“This is a really sad day for us all, I am speechless,” Rakitic told reporters as cited by ABC.
“He is one of the few who conveyed his joy from outside the pitch to the pitch, he was a teammate who everyone wanted.
“From the first day when he returned to Sevilla, it was as if he had returned in command, everyone wanted him: teammates, the club, the fans.
“This is not just a former teammate who has left us, but someone who was part of my family.
“You do not get a chance to meet people like Jose Antonio that often and we connected from the first day that we met…also with his wife and family, I still cannot believe it.
“We were only just talking about a reunion a few days ago, to see each other again, and right now I do not know what to say.
“I want to support his family, his parents and his wife and everybody who loved him, I will be there to support them.”