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When Rafa Benitez arrived on Merseyside in the summer of 2004, he
immediately set about bringing some of Spain's top talents with him, but
while Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia went on to become fans' favourites at
Anfield, Benitez' first signing Josemi did not. The right back, full
name Jose Miguel Gonzalez Rey, was snapped up from Malaga for £2m and
arrived with a good reputation. He was believed to be on the fringes of
his national team and was regarded as a tough tackler and strong
defender. Josemi made his Reds bow alongside another new boy Djibril
Cisse in Liverpool's 2-0 Champions League qualifier win over Grazer AK
in Austria, and impressed fans on his Premier League debut, a 1-1 draw
at Tottenham's White Hart Lane.
The Spaniard's arrival had placed doubt
on the Liverpool futures of Jamie Carragher and Steve Finnan, with the
latter being moved further forward to the right side of midfield to
accommodate his new team-mate. Josemi started ten of Liverpool's first
twelve matches of the season, but the cracks began to appear on just his
third league outing, when Bolton's Henrik Pedersen easily outfoxed him
down Liverpool's right to provide the only goal of the game for Kevin
Davies. In mid-October, Josemi was sent off at Craven Cottage as
Liverpool battled back from 2-0 down to beat Fulham 4-2, and that
suspension, coupled with a variety of injuries (he suffered a concussion
in a Champions League match in Monaco), saw the Spaniard shuffled in
and out of Benitez' team, and Finnan soon replaced him as first choice
right back.
Josemi featured 23 times in his first season in English
football, but was an unused substitute as Liverpool shocked the football
world to win the Champions League Final against AC Milan in Istanbul.
However, he did ensure his place in the chronicles of Liverpool history
by standing to the right of Steven Gerrard as the Liverpool skipper
picked up the trophy. The 2005/06 season began in mid-July for Liverpool
because of their Champions League qualifiers, and Josemi played as the
Reds won 3-1 against Kaunas in Lithuania on Peter Crouch's debut. The
Spaniard played twelve times before the turn of the year, and made his
last start for Liverpool in the grand setting of the Yokohama Stadium in
Japan as the Reds saw off Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica in the World
Club Championship semi-final. When the January transfer window opened,
Benitez swapped Josemi for Villarreal right back Jan Kromkamp, ending an
inauspicious eighteen month stint on Merseyside. (Mark Jones)
1997–1998 Torremolinos
1998–2001 Málaga B 67 (4)
2001–2004 Málaga 93 (0)
2004–2006 Liverpool 21 (0)
2006–2008 Villarreal 32 (0)
2008–2010 Mallorca 53 (1)
2010–2011 Iraklis 26 (0)
2011–2012 Cartagena 18 (0)
2012–2013 Levadiakos 25 (0)
2013–2014 Skoda Xanthi 16 (0)
2014 Atlético Kolkata 17 (0)
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