Thrown out of the club
four months after the incident with a youth player, really ?
There's far more to the Riera story.
Liverpool Echo july 15th 2010
ALBERT RIERA has been given a shock opportunity to revive his troubled Liverpool career after he was named in the 22-man squad that has flown to Switzerland.
The Spanish winger has not been sighted near Liverpool’s first team since he was suspended and fined two weeks wages for a serious breach of club discipline in March.
Liverpool had looked to offload Riera – who fell out spectacularly with former boss Rafa Benitez – in April to Spartak Moscow but the deal fell through due to his personal demands.
Riera had enraged officials and team-mates alike when he referred to Liverpool as being “a sinking ship” on Spanish radio station the night before they played Lille in the second leg of their last 16 Europa League tie.
However, Roy Hodgson has taken the surprise step of including Riera, who had missed the first two days training under the new manager due to a slight knee problem.
Though there is still some doubt about Riera’s long-term future at Anfield – his list of misdemeanours include a fight with an unnamed youth player – he is poised to get a chance to turn things around
The club where happy to see him go BUT Riera wanted to leave after his bust up with Rafa and lack of first team opportunies, he only made 15 appearances during his last season with us.