Barcelona and Liverpool are about to come head to head in in an unprecedented style, as the European champions have targeted yet another Liverpool player, this time in the form of goalkeeper Pepe Reina, the Telegraph has reported on June 18.

The Catalans already met stiff resistance from Anfield when they tried to land Javier Mascherano with Barcelona's Lionel Messi twisting in the screws in the affair by reportedly inviting his Argentinean team mate to come and join forces with him at Nou Camp.

Frothing Rafael Benitez has repeatedly said that neither Mascherano nor Xabi Alonso, who's been a flirtatious target of Real Madrid, are for sale.

Yet the "harassment" of his players has continued, and the latest victim to the list has transpired to be Pepe Reina.

Barcelona opted to land Reina in Nou Camp after contract talks with their current keeper Victor Valdes broke down on June 17, the Daily Mail has said. The keeper has a year left on his contract with the treble winners but allegedly demanded a salary in the range of  150 000 pounds sterling a week which was rebuffed by the team.

Accordingly, Barcelona has stepped in for Pepe Reina, offering the Merseysiders 17 million pounds sterling for the services of the Spanish keeper.

The iconic Liverpool goalie and Kop favourite Pepe Reina, whose father played for Barcelona and still lives in the Catalan city, joined Liverpool for a six million pounds sterling fee in the summer of 2005.

Earlier on June 12, Rafa Benitez and Pep Guardiola came to a head clash, with Barcelona apparently after the Israeli international, Yossi Benayoun.

"At the moment, I am a Liverpool player, and unless something surprising happens, I will remain one. But after such a good season, I have had some offers from England and Spain. You have to give that some consideration, so there will probably be some discussions with Liverpool," Benayoun said, as quoted by the Daily Mail.
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"I have had a great two years at Anfield and enjoyed every minute. I have long since accepted that, with one or two notable exceptions, there is no such thing as an automatic choice at Liverpool."

At the time, Benitez was quoted as saying regarding his two plauyers, Mascherano and Yossi:

"Mascherano is not for sale at any price," Benitez said on Liverpool's official website.  "Barcelona could not afford to match his value to Liverpool - they can offer 50 million pounds sterling, we don't want to sell. Yossi is a Liverpool player and he is happy here."