Jose Antonio Reyes is dead. The former Arsenal FC player died in a car accident aged 35, Spanish club Sevilla have announced.
“We couldn’t offer any worse news”, the La Liga club said on Twitter.
The Spaniard joined the Gunners from the La Liga side in January 2004 and was part of the ‘Invincibles’ side that went through the 2003-04 season unbeaten, winning the Premier League.
He later spent a season on loan at Real Madrid in 2006-07, winning La Liga, BBC sports reports
Reyes, who won 21 caps for Spain, started his career with hometown club Sevilla and made his first team debut at the age of 16.
He then signed for Arsenal during the 2003-04 ‘Invincibles’ campaign for around £15million and went on to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Community Shield. He was the first Spaniard to win the English title.
Reyes left north London to return to Spain with Real Madrid on loan before joining their rivals Atletico Madrid on a permanent deal in 2007, where he went on to win the Europa League twice.
He returned to Sevilla in 2012 and then represented Espanyol, Cordoba and Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard in China before signing for Extremadura in January.
Extremadura paid tribute to Reyes in a tweet, saying:
‘With a shrunken soul and a broken heart we announced the death of Jose Antonio Reyes in a traffic accident. We pray for his soul.’
Reyes holds the record for the player with the most Europa League title victories. He won the competition twice with Atletico and three times with Sevilla.
