Reina was linked with a move to Barcelona last season, and Rodgers hinted that he had been steeling himself for his goalkeeper to depart the club.
"As a senior goalkeeper, he needs to be playing. It wouldn't have served any purpose, both for the club and him personally, if he'd been the one missing out."
"It was obviously a difficult decision. From last season I was led to believe that we were going to get an offer for Pepe that would probably see him leave the club," said Rodgers.
"On the football side, we have to protect the team, and at that stage we started our search for another goalkeeper.
"That found us Simon Mignolet, who is top class - one of the top young European goalkeepers.
"As events transpired, that move (for Reina) didn't happen and it left us with two very good goalkeepers. Both would have been fighting for the No.1 position."
I guess we really were going after Reina, until valdes decided to stay.